By Adedapo Adesanya
In January, February, and March 2024, the Nigerian government spent over N633.30 billion to subsidise electricity for consumers, which was higher than the N252.76 billion used in the last quarter of 2023 by 150.5 per cent.
This information was revealed by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) in its quarterly report, which noted that the amount was 0.7 per cent higher than N628.61 billion paid from January to December 2023.
Providing further context, NERC data showed that in 2023 subsidy gulped N36.02 billion in the first quarter, N135.23 billion in the second quarter, N204.6 billion in the third quarter and N252.76 billion in the fourth quarter of 2023.
The electricity market regulator blamed the increase on the government’s policy to harmonise exchange rates, as well as the absence of cost-reflective tariffs across all electricity distribution companies.
“It is important to note that due to the absence of cost-reflective tariffs across all DisCos, the Government incurred a subsidy obligation of N633.30 billion in 2024/Q1, an average of N211.10 billion per month,” it stated.
On revenue collection, the report said the DisCos recorded a shortfall, as the total revenue in the period was N291.62bn out of N368.65 billion billed to customers.
Also, the total energy received by all DisCos was 7,171.93GWh while the energy billed to end-use customers was 5,769.52GWh, translating into an overall billing efficiency of 80.45 per cent.
Ikeja DisCo collected the highest revenue among Nigeria’s 11 electricity distribution companies as it received 57.88 billion in the period followed by Eko DisCo at N48.74 billion.
Also, of the total revenue collected in the period, Abuja DisCo collected N48.60 billion, Ibadan DisCo collected N30.35 billion, Benin DisCo collected N22.46 billion, Enugu DisCo collected N21.24 billion, Port Harcourt DisCo collected N20.39 billion.
Others include: Kano DisCo at N13.62 billion, Jos DisCo collected N13.29 billion, Kaduna DisCo collected N9.60 billion while Yola DisCo collected the least revenue at N5.46 billion.