The Association of Electricity Distributors of Nigeria (ANED) has said that without electricity subsidy, most Nigerians will not be able to afford the actual cost of power supplied them. This was even as it said that the Federal Government will continue to pay electricity subsidy until the industry is fully mature and attains a status of charging cost reflective tariff. The clarification comes as the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) last week said the Federal Government paid a total of N135.23 billion to subsidise electricity consumption in the second quarter of 2023. However, the latest industry position was made known by ANED Regulatory Specialist, David Adeyeye, during an interview on a live television interview last week. Adeyeye had argued that with the current realities in the foreign exchange market, imposing actual cost of electricity on Nigerians would be a near impossibility. ‘‘Today, as we speak the naira exchange rate to a dollar is about N1,150. So, if you allow that, the cost of power becomes unsustainable and that is why a cushion that works must be created in other to allow Nigerians have access to power because we need power to run the economy.
Sun