FG Tells Nigerians, ‘Hike In Electricity Tariffs Inevitable’

The Nigerian Government on Monday said its citizens may have to pay higher electricity tariffs as time goes by.

This was according to Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, who stated this at 6th Presidential Quarterly Business Forum for Private Sector Stakeholders.

Osinbajo noted however that the said increase in electricity tariffs would not be immediate.

“Listening to questions concerning lower tariffs, we must pay higher tariffs; these sorts of things are inevitable. What we are trying to do is not increase tariffs for now, but how we can ensure we clean up the entire value chain.

“I’m sure you are aware of the Payment Assurance Guarantee which we put in place for over N700 billion to ensure gas is paid for and for liquidity in the whole value chain.

“Today (Monday), we will be meeting with the World Bank on a scheme they have been working with us on to fund the entire value chain, and ensure we transit smoothly from where we are, to a much more market-determined policy for electricity.

“This will involve a fair amount of subsidy; the Federal Government and World Bank are working together on that. There is no way of sustaining the current subsidies for long term, but we want to ensure the process is smooth,” said the Vice President.