Do you know that the Nigerian government channels a good sum of money into electricity subsidy.
When the Nigerian government took out subsidy from petrol, everyone thought that would be the end of that word. Now electricity is gulping a huge amount in subsidy to give Nigerians power in their homes.
This development is coming at a time the Federal Government says it is cutting cost of governance.
Now, billions are going into subsidising electricity in just four months.
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, made the revelation on Wednesday.
According to the agency, the Federal Government paid a total of ₦135.23 billion to subsidise electricity consumption in the second quarter of 2023.
The NERC made this public in its Q2, 2023 report pasted on its website.
Explaining further, the agency said that the Federal Government spent the ₦135.23 billion on plugging revenue generation shortfall in the power sector in the period under review.
It said that this indicated an increase of ₦99.21 billion, representing 275% compared to the ₦36 billion it paid in the quarter 1 of 2023.
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The report stated that the government incurred a subsidy obligation of ₦135.23 billion in 2023/Q2, which is substantially higher than the ₦36.02 billion it incurred in 2023/Q1.
“The government incurred a subsidy obligation of ₦135.23 billion in 2023/Q2, which is an increase of ₦99.21 billion 275 per cent compared to the ₦36.02 billion incurred in 2023/Q1,” it said.
The commission stated that the subsidy was due to the absence of cost-reflective tariffs across all distribution companies.
It said that the increase recorded in the period was a result of the government’s policy to harmonise exchange rate.
