Nigeria government spends over N50bn monthly-Minister of Power

On Tuesday, the Minister of Power, Mr. Sale Mamman, said that the federal government spends over N50 billion on electricity per month.

This was revealed in a statement in Abuja by Mr. Aaron Artimas, Special Adviser, Media and Communications to the Minister of Power.

Artimas quoted the minister as saying this when he received the Guild of Actors and Film Makers in his office.

“Worried by the incessant complaints by ordinary Nigerians over the unavoidable and periodic increase in the cost of electricity, the Federal Government has been subsidizing electricity supply in the country to the tune of over N50 billion.

“The funds are provided to augment the shortfall by the Distribution Companies (DISCOs) who have failed to defray the cost of bulk electricity supplied to them by the Generating Companies.

“However, following a minor increase in the tariff regime, the subsidy has now decreased by half, but still constitutes a serious drain on the nation’s economy,” he stated.

Mamman expressed serious concern that DiSCos had failed to stabilize its operations to fulfill its financial obligations to other players in the sector.

In response to this unfortunate development, he said, the Federal Government was forced to partially subsidize the sector so that the cost of electricity was not priced out of the reach of the common man.

The Minister clarified that the Federal Government was forced to categorize electricity supply into separate bands between high-brow areas and low-income earners as part of the steps to support ordinary Nigerians over their dissatisfaction with receiving sufficient electricity supply.

He said that the supply categorization was meant to enable everybody to deal with the cost of electricity.

“Nigerians must understand that these companies were privatized long before the advent of this administration but the government has no alternative than to continue managing the sector before a final solution is secured.

“Through the Presidential Power Initiative and other intervention measures, the government is diligently working to massively resolve all these inherited problems that have continuously frustrated the success of the sector,” he added.

He stated that most of the DisCos were sold off and operated as family companies, making it difficult to operate them professionally.

Mamman lamented that although some of these problems remained, the Federal Government had achieved impressive success and growth, as the supply of electricity had stabilized at over 5,000 megawatts.

He pointed out that Nigerians now enjoy a reliable power supply of 15 to 24 hours per day.

However, the Minister blamed the lack of interruptions in the supply of defective equipment and supply lines to some quarters and called on customers to report such developments to their distribution offices.

He stated that once they occur, it was the duty of the DisCos to repair defective transformers, power poles, and cables.

The Minister warned the DisCos to avoid assigning these duties to ordinary Nigerians until they could restore interruptions in power.

He advised them to minimize their use of electricity by switching off their appliances while they were not at home while applauding Nigerians on their efforts to pay for electricity considering the current economic and social problems facing them.

On metering, Mamman clarified that while DisCos was responsible for supplying the meters, the Federal Government stepped in because billings were overestimated by the public outcry.

The Federal Government was committed to supplying Nigerians with over six million meters free of charge, he retorted.

According to him, for distribution, approximately one million meters have already been delivered while the rest is awaited.

He called on DisCos to speed up the free delivery of meters to its customers as a way to reduce their problems.

Earlier, Mr. Mandawari Ibrahim, Head of the Kannywood Producers and Actors, announced that they had agreed to use their services to the Ministry of Power to properly inform Nigerians about the achievements of the Buhari administration in the power sector.

He said that Kannywood had a personal stake in the achievement of the Buhari organization since they likewise had a significant influence in peddling his political race.

Mandawari noticed that despite the gigantic advancement made by this organization, numerous Nigerians have remained clueless.

“Before Buhari came into office, many local government areas especially in the North-East as well as bombings in Abuja, Kano, Kaduna, and other cities were experienced.

“But these major security challenges were tackled and the areas liberated, but Nigerians seem to have forgotten,” he said.

“Besides, the Federal Government has been providing reliefs, palliatives, and social investments to ordinary Nigerians.

“As well as providing huge financial support and assistance to the state governments to meet up with their financial obligations in salary payments and infrastructures to their citizens”.

Mandawari said that these efforts could only be appreciated by Nigerians if they were well educated, hence the choice of Kannywood to step in on the accomplishments of the Federal Government through films, jingles, songs, and billboards.