The Federal Government has dismissed reports of a planned hike in electricity tariff, insisting that there is no proposal to increase the cost of electricity for consumers across the country, saying its immediate priority is expanding the country’s strained power infrastructure rather than raising what consumers pay.
Minister of Power Joseph Tegbe issued the assurance Thursday at the groundbreaking ceremony for a 17.7-megawatt interconnected mini-grid project in Ibadan.
He said the administration is working to shift Nigeria toward reliable, around-the-clock electricity supply.
“There is no plan to increase tariffs,” Tegbe said, adding, “Our focus is on building the infrastructure that will deliver stable power.”
The government plans to begin with three industrial and residential energy corridors: Lagos-Ogun, Abuja-Kaduna-Kano and Benin-Enugu-Port Harcourt, he stated.
Officials view the corridors as templates for extending more dependable service nationwide.
The initiative addresses one of most persistent economic constraints: unreliable grid electricity that pushes households and businesses toward expensive self-generated power.
The Minister said the national grid is undergoing upgrades along its eastern and western corridors, as well as at critical generation and transmission points from the north to south.
Sites earmarked for work include Funtua, Kainji, Gwagwalada, Gombe, Makurdi, Ajaokuta, Ikot Ekpene, Benin and Egbin, he said.
The projects, he disclosed, are part of the administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda, which he says are intended to broaden equitable access to electricity.
The pledge may reassure consumers in the short term.
However, delivering continuous power across Africa’s most populous country will require sustained investment, and could eventually test the government’s commitment to keeping tariffs unchanged.
