OpeOluwani Akintayo
14 July 2017, Sweetcrude, Lagos — Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, has said that customers who refuse to pay their electricity bills are breaking a law and would be issued a fin.
According to the minister in a statement on Friday in Lagos, non-payment of electricity bills will attract stiffer penalties.
“If you don’t pay for electricity, you have violated a law. But we are now trying to make that law stronger, and we are looking at how to include fines and to increase the consequences. We want to make it easier to comply than to violate.”
He made the statement while assuring Nigerians of more power supply as from August.
“We are working round the clock to solve the (power supply) problem. We are going to get more power by August.
“How we get equipment, transformers, and all of the equipment needed within the next cycle of 60 to 90 days is critical so that we don’t lose all that energy that is coming from the raining season,” he added.
Fashola revealed that agitations to do away with privatization won’t work, saying that the government needs to work with private companies.
“When people ask us to cancel the privatisation, I ask them how that impacts our moving forward when we demonstrate that we are a nation that cancels a respecting contract. Where are we going to get the dollars to refund (the contractors)? Because they paid in dollars and I don’t think they would accept naira.”