Electricity Bills, Highly Subsidised, Yet  Most Defaulted – FG 

The Federal Ministry of Power has  lamented  that  despite huge subsidisation of electricity bills in the country, many Nigerian  consumers,  including  corporate bodies, still default in the payment of their  bills.
The Minister of State for Power, Engr. Abubakar Aliyu, disclosed this during an interactive session  between the  Senate Committee on Power  and heads of various agencies in the power sector last Thursday in Abuja.
According to the  Minister, electricity is highly subsidised in the country by the Federal Government,  which has made its cost to be cheapest across the globe .
He backed up his claim by making comparative analysis of cost of electricity in Nigeria with those of  neighbouring countries.
His words,”Cost of electricity in Nigeria is the cheapest across the globe, particularly gas to power, which is highly subsidised. 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; and 27 cent in Burkina Faso; among other countries”.
He, however, lamented that while government is doing everything possible to make electricity affordable and available for Nigerians, many of the ordinary consumers and even critical agencies of government, default in payment of their electricity bills.
Making similar lamentation, the Managing Director of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), Engr Sulyman Abdulaziz, said the high rate of defaults on electricity bills payment by critical government agencies led to disconnection of Electricity Distribution Companies (DISCOs) in Kaduna and Kano from the national grid recently.
He added that though they have been temporarily reconnected, they must make  payment through the affected DISCOs to TCN within the 60  days grace period given by the government.
As a way out of the problem, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Power, Senator Gabriel Suswam, and other members suggested the deduction from source  the electricity bills of such agencies by the  Ministry of Finance .
According to Senator Suswam, one of the complaints made by the DISCOs, particularly those of Kaduna and Kano, was enormous debts incurred by them from  electricity bills  payment defaulters which include state  governments, educational institutions,and military formations, among others.

By: Nneka Amaech-Nnadi, Abuja