The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, has stated that Nigeria’s economy can no longer sustain electricity subsidies —urging Nigerians to accept cost-reflective electricity tariffs.
In a statement by his media aide, Bolaji Tunji, —Adelabu spoke during a meeting with the Chairperson of the Association of Power Generating Companies (APGC), Dr. Joy Ogaji declaring that citizens must pay the appropriate price for energy consumed.
He cleared however, that less privileged citizens would still enjoy targeted subsidies —while he stressed that we must understand that our economy cannot sustain subsidies indefinitely.
“We have to understand that our economy can not sustain subsidies indefinitely. Citizens must pay the appropriate price for the energy consumed,” he said.
The minister revealed that electricity subsidy has only driven Nigeria to N4 trillion in debt to power generation companies (GenCos)—which has threatened to collapse Nigeria’s power infrastructure.
The meeting which held in Abuja during the weekend had Adelabu pledging that the Government would pay off a significant portion of the debt immediately.
While NERC report of February 2025 reveals that Nigerians only paid N88.2 kWh as against the actual average tariff of N116.18 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) —revealing that subsidy has always covered the remainder —Adelabu has promised to settle the remaining debt within six months with the use of promissory notes and other instruments.
“There is a need to pay a substantial amount of the debt in cash. At the minimum, let us pay a substantial amount, then ask for a debt instrument in promissory notes to pay the rest,” he said.
On the other hand, APGC chairperson, Ogaji, in her remark, highlighted chronic payment defaults, unreliable gas supply, and forex instability —as major challenges —noting that naira’s plunge from ₦157/$1 in 2013 to ₦1,600/$1 in 2025 —had a severe impact on GenCos’ capacity to repay loans and maintain assets.
Meanwhile, Adelabu has assured that all debts would be cleared off and called on citizens to brace up to take responsibility for their electricity tariff.
