Tunde Sholanke
The Federal Government says cost of electricity consumption in Nigeria is the cheapest and most defaulted by consumers in the world.
The Minister of State for Power, Engineer Abubakar Aliyu, disclosed this during interactive session with the Senate Committee on Power alongside heads of various agencies in the power sector .
Disclosing why the cost of electricity consumption is low, the Minister said electricity is heavily subsidized in Nigeria by the federal government.
He buttressed his claim with comparative analysis of cost of electricity in Nigeria with those of the neighbouring countries.
He said: “Cost of electricity in Nigeria is the cheapest across the globe, particularly gas to Power, which is highly subsidized. For example, while cost of electricity in Nigeria is 15 cent per kilowatt, it is 42 cent in Niger Republic, 23 cent in Republic of Benin , 25 cent in Mali , 28 cent in Senegal,27 cent in Burkina Faso etc.”
He added that many of the ordinary consumers and even critical agencies of government, default in payment of bill, lamenting that while government is doing everything possible to make electricity affordable and available for Nigerians.
Speaking, the Managing Director of Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), Engineer Sulyman Abdulaziz , said high rate of defaults on electricity bills by critical government agencies led to disconnection of Electricity Distribution Companies ( DISCOs) in Kaduna and Kano from the National grid recently .
The Chairman of the Committee , Senator Gabriel Suswam and other members like Senators Adamu Aliero , Yusuf Abubakar Yusuf among others, suggested deduction from source, electricity bills of such agencies by the Ministry of Finance.
Suswan disclosed that one of the complaints made by the DISCOs , particularly those of Kaduna and Kano , is enormous debt incurred by them from electricity bills defaulters.
He said that the written complaint by DISCO specifically mentioned military formations across the country,educational institutions, state governments and etc.
