The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has asserted that electricity prices in Nigeria remain more affordable than in several neighboring African nations, despite the recent tariff adjustments.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics program, TCN’s Managing Director, Sule Abdulaziz, emphasized that the rise in electricity costs reflects the challenges involved in power generation.
Abdulaziz further claimed that consumers in Band A now benefit from uninterrupted 24-hour electricity, though many residents have expressed doubts about the accuracy of this statement.
“Nigerians are getting 24 hours supply (daily), it’s not everybody but those people on Band A, they get 20 to 22 hours,” Abdulaziz said.
“Nigerians are paying more because to produce electricity is not easy. You can see the exchange rate.
“Electricity is now expensive in Nigeria, we are feeling it is expensive because we are getting it at a cheaper price. If you go to other African countries, you go to Niger, you go to Burkina Faso, you go to Senegal, still, now, Nigeria is cheaper.”
He assured Nigerians that the country can get a stable power supply in less than five years, saying that there has been significant improvement in electricity supply in the last year.
“If you ask Nigerians, all of them know that there is improvement in power and this improvement is going to continue,” he said.
On April 3, 2024, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) raised the electricity tariff for customers enjoying 20 hours of power supply daily. Customers in this category are said to be under the Band A classification.
The increase saw the customers paying N225 kilowatt per hour from N66, a development that has been heavily criticised by many Nigerians, considering the immediacy of the tariff hike and the current hardship in the land.
The quadruple increase in electricity tariff was implemented at a time Nigerians are still grappling with the biting effects of petrol subsidy removal which saw the cost of petrol rise as high as fivefold.