Precious Anga
Lagos — The Federal Government has ruled out any immediate increase in electricity tariffs, saying its priority is to improve power supply, expand access to reliable electricity and accelerate universal metering across the country.
Minister of Power, Joseph Olasunkanmi Tegbe, gave the clarification after commissioning a 3 megawatts, MW, captive solar hybrid power project at Yakubu Gowon University, formerly the University of Abuja.
“There are no immediate plans to increase electricity tariffs. Our goal is to build a commercially viable power sector while protecting vulnerable consumers,” Tegbe said.
The minister’s statement comes amid concerns over a possible further tariff adjustment following discussions around electricity subsidies and the financial sustainability of the power sector.
Tegbe said the government was instead concentrating on improving service delivery and strengthening consumer confidence, while universal metering remained a major priority. He said wider metering would support accurate billing, improve transparency and ensure consumers were charged according to measured electricity consumption.
He added that the administration was pursuing reforms aimed at creating a commercially viable electricity market while protecting vulnerable consumers and improving efficiency and accountability across the power value chain.
The Federal Government maintained that reforms to the electricity subsidy framework would continue to be considered alongside measures to strengthen the sector’s financial sustainability, but stressed that there was no immediate plan to increase tariffs.
