By Abiola Olawale
The Federal Government of Nigeria has announced plans to review and regularize electricity tariffs for customers in Bands B and C, respectively.
The development is said to be aimed at addressing disparities in the current billing system as well as encourage investment in the power sector.
This was revealed by the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, during a public presentation of the National Integrated Electricity Policy and Nigeria Integrated Resource Plan on Thursday, February 27, 2025, in Abuja.
The New Diplomat reports that under the existing tariff structure, B and B customers, who receive between 16 and 20 hours of electricity supply daily, are charged approximately N63 per kilowatt-hour (kWh).
In contrast, B and C customers, who get 12 to 16 hours of supply, fall under a similar pricing bracket.
However, Band A customers, enjoying 20 to 24 hours of supply, currently pay a higher rate of N209 per kWh.
In his address, Adelabu highlighted the wide gap between these tariffs as “unfair” and stressed the need for a more equitable pricing system that better reflects the service levels provided.
The Minister, however, stressed that the proposed regularization is not necessarily an indication of an imminent tariff hike.
Instead, he said the focus is to restructure the tariff bands, A, B, and C, to reduce the disparities and create a balanced system that ensures fairness for consumers while incentivizing Distribution Companies (DisCos) to improve service delivery.
The minister said: “We will look at the tariff again. I am not saying that we’re going to increase the tariff before I am misquoted.
“We are going to look at it and see how we can improve upon our modest achievement of last year, not only to ensure that we grow the sector that we need but also to ensure that we can invest more in revamping all these dilapidated infrastructures.”
“The migration to Band A should have been faster, but we found out that the DisCos refuse to invest. They have refused to invest in this sector.
“A lot of investment is required for us to achieve an accelerated migration of lower-band customers into Band A. It is taking a lot of time.”
In response to this, the government is said to be considering restructuring the tariff bands, reducing the current wide gap between them.
According to the Minister, a new system, proposed to encompass Bands A, B, and C, would help address these inequalities.
“The gap between the Band A tariffs and Bands B, C, D, and E is just too wide,” he said. “We believe it’s not fair. It is not just, and we must be able to carry out some level of regularisation.”
