The Minister of State for Power, Mr.Goddy Jeddy-Agba yesterday revealed why the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has not allowed the increase of electricity, stressing that the Federal Government will not raise the tariff arbitrarily.
He recalled that by this time last year, there was a move to hike the tariff but the government entered into a negotiation with the organized labour.
He added that “if we arbitrarily increased the tariff as it were, we could have cut our nose to spite our face.”
Continuing, the minister said “we realized that it has to be reasonable, affordable and available as much as possible.”
Jeddy-Agba spoke at the “Power Correspondents Association of Nigeria (PCAN), 2021 Annual workshop in Abuja.
He said because the government is humane, it is opened to criticism and amendment.
According to him, the government is working assiduously to add more power to the grid for the benefit of the citizenry.
The minister said: “Siemens is on already. The problem we had in Mambilla project has been resolved already.
“So, the project will soon come on stream. And you will see also, we finish that and do Kasimbila and do Zungeru.
“Zungeru, by the first quarter of next year will be commissioned and we will put more power to the grid and you will see improvement.”
In his welcome address, PCAN Chairman, Obas Esiedesa, noted that eight years after the partial privatization of the power sector, there are still teething problems. He sought concerted efforts at resolving them.
He noted that the challenges, which cut across the value chain, are enormous.
“For us as journalists, we would continue to support the sector with our works to ensure that the right things are done and consumers are able to get best value money,” he said.