‘I won’t want to pay bills if I don’t have electricity,’ Minister says

monjola sotubo

February 14, 2017 11:24 AM

Fashola made the comment to explain why some Nigerians are resistant to paying bills saying he would do the same if he found himself in their position.

Babatunde Fashola in a file photo in Lagos REUTERS/Akintunde Akinleye

Minister of Power, Works and Housing,

He made the comments on Monday, February 13, at the monthly Power Sector and Stakeholders’ Meeting in Ibadan, Oyo State.

“The 3,500MW to 3,800MW that we have been able to keep on the grid over the last few months will be assisted greatly if we can have the gas pipelines back and add 3,000MW to it. That means we will be able to deliver well over 6,000MW if the gas pipelines are safe,” Fashola said.

“Consumers are more resistant to payment when they don’t have electricity, and I will be, too, and you will be too,” he told the power investors and other stakeholders at the meeting.

“We see that they (consumers) pay more when the power is more stable. Of course, there are issues also at the retail end – metering, estimated bills.

“You will see that government has begun to act. The Vice President, representing the President, is going round those Niger Delta communities, engaging them more openly, more robustly.

“The idea is to bring them to the table to stop the vandalism while the issues that agitate them can be treated and resolved. I believe that if we are successful as we expect to be, we should be able to, sometimes, this year recover all the 3,000MW that has been lost to gas pipeline outages,” he added.

Fashola had earlier blamed the poor power supply in the country on a lack of funds.

According to Fashola, there’s no money to pay for the supply of gas to power stations.

ALSO READ: Nigerians criticize Fashola over drop in electricity generation

The minister made the comments on Wednesday, January 25, after a meeting of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) in Abuja.

monjola sotubo