Pricewill Okorie, an energy analyst and leader of the Electricity Consumer Protection Advocacy Centre, has accused the Nigerian government and electricity distribution companies (DisCos) of planning a new tariff increase to benefit themselves financially. This allegation follows the announcement by Sadiq Wanka, the Special Adviser to the President on Power Infrastructure, that the government intends to phase out electricity subsidies across all consumer categories.
The proposed changes will impact users in Bands B, C, D, and E, who typically experience 16 hours or less of electricity availability daily. Okorie challenged the necessity of these measures, suggesting that removing subsidies will likely increase economic hardship for the public, similar to the impact of fuel subsidy removal. He pointed out that previous tariff adjustments, such as those implemented under former Minister of Power Adebayo Adelabu, failed to deliver tangible improvements in power reliability. Okorie criticized the current Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe, for pursuing a policy he claims ignores the needs of citizens in favor of revenue extraction.
Historical context shows that in April 2024, the administration raised rates for Band A consumers significantly, moving from N68 to N225 per kilowatt-hour.
