The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, says if Nigerians are not being sincere, they know it is now cheaper for them to pay to enjoy stable electricity than for them to purchase fuel and diesel.
According to him, Nigerians on Band A tariff have come to understand that it is more economical for them to remain on the band than for them to produce their own electricity using petrol and diesel. While speaking at a function in Lagos state recently, the Minister said it could cost private entities as much as N750 to produce one kilowatt-hour of electricity due to the elevated price of petrol but that they enjoy stable electricity for far less at N209 per kilowatt-hour while on the Band A tariff. He recalled that in 2023 a revenue of N1tn was made in the power sector while N16.5tn was spent in procuring petrol and diesel to run power generators.
“I need to correct an impression. There’s a section of the media that says this revenue is an additional burden on the consumers. No, it is not. It is just a mere reallocation of resources from what they used to spend on petrol and diesel. Now they are paying to enjoy a good power supply.
Today that we have a more stable supply than we used to have, a lot of people do not spend on fuel again, not on diesel, not on petrol. Now, we are charging N209 as a full cost-reflective tariff for Band A, but for you to generate a kilowatt hour of power using a petrol generator to pay, at this rate of N1,000 per litre, it is going to be about N750 for a kilowatt-hour; and for diesel, it remains about N915.
So, power sector consumers are like a beautiful bride that has now tried two matrimonies. If they want to be sincere, they know which of the husbands to remain with. So, we are adopting commercialisation in the sector to enable investors to have a line of sight to the return of their investments.”
