Senate Says Govt Agencies, Military Owe Electricity Firms

Senate Says Govt Agencies, Military Owe Electricity Firms

The Federal Government has said that the cost of electricity consumption in Nigeria is among the cheapest and most defaulted by consumers in the world.

This came as the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Power, Senator Gabriel Suswam, said Electricity Distribution Companies had listed military formations, educational institutions and state governments among the defaulters of power bills.

Meanwhile, the Minister of State for Power, Engineer Abubakar Aliyu, who appeared before the Senate Committee on Power alongside the heads of various agencies in the power sector on Thursday in Abuja said electricity was highly subsidised in the country by the Federal Government, making it the cheapest across the globe.

He backed up his claim by making a comparative analysis of the cost of electricity in Nigeria with those of the neighbouring countries.

Aliyu said, “The cost of electricity in Nigeria is the cheapest across the globe, particularly gas to power which is highly subsidised.

“For example, while the cost of electricity in Nigeria is 15 cents per kilowatt, it is 42 cents in the Niger Republic, 23 cent in the Republic of Benin, 25 cents in Mali, 28 cents in Senegal, 27 cents in Burkina Faso etc.”

He, however, lamented that while the government was 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 bills.

Making similar lamentation, the Managing Director of Transmission Company of Nigeria, Sulyman Abdulaziz, said the high rate of defaults on electricity bills by critical government agencies led to the disconnection of Electricity Distribution Companies in Kaduna and Kano from the national grid recently.

He added that although they have been temporarily reconnected, payment must be made through the affected Discos to TCN within the 60 days grace given.

Proffering solutions, the Chairman of the committee, Senator Gabriel Suswam, and other members like Senators Adamu Aliero, and Yusuf Yusuf, suggested deduction from source of electricity bills of such agencies by the Ministry of Finance.

According to Suswam, one of the complaints made by the Discos, particularly those of Kaduna and Kano, is enormous debt incurred by them from electricity bill defaulters.

“ The Discos as stated in the written complaint specifically mentioned military formations across the country, educational institutions, state governments etc to be greatest culprits “ he said.