Electricity Subsidy: FG To Invest Saved Funds In Social Programs, Power Sector

• Electricity Subsidy ends, N1 trillion saved for healthcare, education & power.

• Unequal benefits addressed, power companies face stricter rules.

• CNG buses still planned, conversion centers coming for cheaper transport.

EKO HOT BLOG reports that the Federal Government has announced its intention to redirect funds saved from the removal of electricity subsidy towards bolstering social services and enhancing the nation’s power supply.

Mohammed Idris, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, disclosed this during a radio interview program on Saturday in Kaduna State.

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Idris explained that an estimated N1 trillion would be saved through the elimination of electricity subsidies, with plans to allocate these funds to essential social sectors like healthcare and education.

Highlighting the disparity in subsidy distribution, Idris noted that around 40 percent of the subsidy benefits are availed to merely 15 percent of consumers, primarily affluent individuals and industrial clusters, enjoying approximately 20 hours of uninterrupted power supply.

“It is essential to emphasize that the funds to be saved from the withdrawal of electricity subsidy will be reinvested in enhancing power supply across the country and improving other vital social services such as health and education,” the minister said.

Idris said 85 percent of the population under the different categorisations of the new electricity supply regime still enjoy the subsidy.

He said the new Electricity Act, signed by Tinubu, has strengthened the governance structure of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).

The minister said the also empowers NERC to severely sanction electricity distribution companies (DisCos) for infractions relating to billings and power supply.

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Commenting on the post-petrol subsidy intervention programmes, Idris said the federal government’s plan to invest N100 billion in the procurement of compressed natural gas (CNG) buses is still on track, noting that the specifications of the vehicles are “not bought off the shelf”.

He said the government would soon launch conversion centres across the country to encourage Nigerians to convert their vehicles from fuel to CNG to cut transportation costs.

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