Power Minister Decries Electricity Subsidy Increase To N3tn

Federal government says indebtedness of Nigeria’s power sector to electricity generating companies and gas producers has risen to about N3.3 trillion naira.

It also revealed that subsidy on electricity for 2024 would gulp about N3tn, whereas only N450bn was budgeted for this purpose in this year’s budget, adding that it was now very difficult to sustain power subsidy.

Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, said Nigeria must begin to move towards a cost-effective tariff model,  because, the country was currently indebted to the tune of N1.3tn to electricity generating companies, while the debt to gas companies was $1.3billion dollars.

The minister, who disclosed this in Abuja said, the heads of all the agencies under the Federal Ministry of Power, insisted that he would not resign his position as power minister following calls for his resignation by some persons, adding that, the ministries of power, finance and petroleum were making efforts to tackle the crisis in the sector, while, the electricity subsidy for January 2024 had not been paid yet by the Federal Government.