The Federal Government’s current efforts to implement cost-reflective electricity tariffs for all consumers has been supported by sub-national governments following a resolution by the National Council on Power (NCP), which reaffirmed the urgent need for tariff reform and subsidies to cushion the impact of the surging tariffs on vulnerable citizens.
The Council, which is a forum of federal and state government stakeholders, passed the resolution during the sixth edition of its meeting held in Maiduguri, Borno State, which was attended by key stakeholders from federal and state governments, regulatory bodies, and operators across the electricity value chain.
The communiqué issued at the end of the NCP’s meeting on Monday, indicated that the financial sustainability of the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) would depend majorly on tariff reforms that reflect the true cost of power generation and distribution.
The communiqué partly reads: “Council adopted that electricity must be paid for at a cost-reflective rate, while subsidies must still exist for the vulnerable, but must be targeted and well administered at a manageable and sustainable level.”
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In addition, the NCP harped on the importance of ensuring that such reforms were characterized by broad-based stakeholder engagement, transparency in subsidy administration, and the deployment of technology for better targeting of support to low-income households, and also agreed that market liabilities must be apportioned to all parties, which will be subject to thorough engagements to ensure that assets and liabilities are allocated to all parties.
Apart from also approving resolutions targeted at deepening capacity development, improving grid stability, and fast-tracking renewable energy investment nationwide, the council mandated the National Power Training Institute of Nigeria to explore innovative means of funding a Research and Innovation Framework within the NESI to foster locally packaged solutions to technical and operational challenges.
Furthermore, in furtherance of its human capital development strategy, the council directed NAPTIN to engage stakeholders and refine its proposal for the establishment of a National Human Capital Development Framework, a Structured Apprenticeship Programme, and a Gender Mainstreaming Strategy for the power sector.
According to the communiqué, the refined proposal must be submitted to the Minister of Power for deliberation at the Power Sector Working Group.
The council also expressed its readiness to mobilise sub-national governments and stakeholders to support skills development initiatives and foster job creation through targeted national strategies for sustainable economic growth, and agreed on the need to construct additional Double Circuit 330/132kV transmission lines to reinforce electricity supply to the Northeast and approved Borno State’s request for solar mini-grids for rural electrification in partnership with the Rural Electrification Agency (REA).
On transmission improvements, the council noted that the Northern Corridor Transmission Project was ongoing and is expected to stabilize the grid across the region and that the delayed Mambilla Hydro Power Project remained stalled due to current litigation on it.
