- Claims price of energy cheapest in Nigeria, cheaper than running generators
- FG to begin $750m World Bank electrification project for 17.5m consumers
The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, has assured Nigerians of a possible reduction in the cost of electricity in the coming months, following a current effort to step up the generation and distribution of power in the country.
This was as he noted that electricity costs in the country are significantly cheaper than running generators on petrol or diesel, considering its current prices.
He gave the assurance on Thursday when he received the Executive Secretary of the National Lottery Trust Fund, Tosin Adeyanju, who led the management team of the agency to pay a courtesy call on the Minister at the headquarters of the ministry in Abuja.
The Minister also said that it is worth noting that the price of electricity is still the cheapest in Nigeria, compared to even other African nations such as Togo, Mali and Niger Republic.
He, however, said that the low level of income in Nigeria makes the cost look high to consumers.
Nigerians have lamented the high cost of electricity this year following the increase of band tariffs being charged by the electricity Distribution Companies.
Currently, Band A customers are guaranteed at least 20 hours of electricity supply daily and are expected to pay N209.5 Kilowatts per hour with more citizens and manufacturers complaining of the high cost.
But speaking during the meeting, the minister said, “Nigerians can be assured of reduction in the cost of electricity, with the current effort to step up generation and distribution of power in the country.
“The price of electricity is still the cheapest in Nigeria; compared to even other African nations such as Togo, Mali, and Niger Republic but the low level of income in Nigeria makes the cost look high to consumers.”
In his address, the Lottery boss commended the minister for his outstanding performance, his competence, and capacity, since his assumption of office about a year ago, and in restoring the confidence of Nigerians in the power sector.
“Permit me to address you as a performing minister of power, because since 1999, we have not witnessed the improvement that we have in the electricity supply in the country, as we have today. Before now, many were already opting for solar as supply was abysmal. But you have restored people’s confidence in the sector since you came on board,” Adeyanju said.
He informed the minister that as part of the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu, the agency is working to get the youths, particularly in the rural areas, to be productive by training them on how to assemble One Kilowatt of solar energy.
“We have come to you to seek partnership with you on how we can train our rural people, particularly the youths, on how they can assemble one kilowatt of solar energy. This will help a long way in addressing youth restiveness by creating employment for them, particularly those who have acquired skills such as hairdressing, vulcanizing, welding, and so on.
“This is part of our effort to help President Tinubu achieve his aim of addressing the challenges of unemployment among the rural people and the youths in general. We want to carry this out in all the local government areas of the country and since we have seen your commitment in this area of power supply, we have decided to approach your ministry for partnership to achieve this,” Adeyanju said.
Responding, Adelabu expressed the readiness of the ministry and its relevant agencies to collaborate and work with the Trust Fund to achieve the objective.
He said the renewable power project of the ministry was established to address the areas of the country that the grid does not cover.
“We will be very happy to work and partner with you on this project. We have agencies that are driving this renewable power project, using solar, wind, and other alternative sources of power supply that the grid cannot reach. Such agency is our Rural Electricity Agency and they will be of great value to you in this project.
“All over the world today, we are faced with two basic issues and these are food and energy securities. We can see that the cost of gas is going up globally due partly to the war between Russia and Ukraine.
“However, we must be committed to providing electricity to our rural people, particularly the youths. We can see that even those who have learnt skills have abandoned those skills and are now riding Okada for quick money.
“President Tinubu is committed to the transformation of Nigeria and youths and rural development are of great concern. If Nigerians are patient, they will realize that the government means well for them.
“We are happy with this effort and will be very willing to work and collaborate with you to achieve it,” the Minister said.
FG to begin $750m World Bank electrification project for 17.5 million Nigerians
In another development, the Rural Electrification Agency says starting in November, the Federal Government will kick-start a new rural electricity project bankrolled by the World Bank to provide electricity for 17.5 million Nigerians.
The Agency’s Managing Director, Abba Aliyu, who revealed this on a live television programme on Thursday, also said his agency has plans to provide cheap energy alternatives to tertiary institutions using renewable energy sources.
He said the project, tagged the Distributed Renewable Energy Scaleup, has been designed to target the provision of electricity for up to 17.5 million Nigerians using renewable energy sources.
Aliyu said, “For example, there’s a new project that we are starting next month called the Distributed Renewable Energy Scaleup project which is a $750 million financed (project) by the World Bank. The target of that project is to electrify 17.5 million Nigerians and I must say that this is one of the most ambitious projects in the world based on my understanding.
“Apart from India which has moved many unelectrified people to have electricity access, there’s no other country that has an ambitious project like this so this is a project that we are starting.”
