FG says Nigerians pay least electricity bill in the world

According to the Federal Government, the cost of electricity consumption in the country is the cheapest and most defaulted by consumers in the world.

This was disclosed by the Minister of State for Power, Abubakar Aliyu, while making his submission at an interactive session with the Senate Committee on Power and heads of various agencies in the power sector in Abuja on Thursday, May 4, 2023.

Explaining further, the Minister noted that electricity was being heavily subsidised in Nigeria by the Federal Government which is why its cost is the cheapest compared to any other country.

To back up his claim, Aliyu made a comparative analysis of the cost of electricity in Nigeria with those of the neighbouring countries.

He said, “The cost of electricity in Nigeria is the cheapest across the globe, particularly gas to Power which is highly subsidized.

“For example, while the cost of electricity in Nigeria is 15 cents per kilowatt, it is 42 cents in the Niger Republic, 23 cent in the Republic of Benin, 25 cents in Mali, 28 cents in Senegal, 27 cents in Burkina Faso etc.”

The Minister, however, expressed disappointment over the tendency of many of the ordinary consumers as well as critical agencies of government to default in payment of bills despite the efforts of the government to make electricity affordable and available.

Pulse had earlier reported that the Federal Government through the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) have begun disconnecting electricity distributor companies, otherwise known as Discos, from the national grid over unpaid debt.

Speaking at the event, the Managing Director of TCN, Sulyman Abdulaziz, lamented that the high rate of defaults on electricity bills by critical government agencies was responsible for disconnecting Kaduna and Kano Discos from the national grid recently.