FG Questions Accuracy of World Bank Survey on Power Tariff Shortfalls

Meanwhile, the Federal Government has queried the report of a survey conducted by the World Bank which claimed that 78 per cent of power consumers in Nigeria get less than 12 hours of daily supply of electricity.

In a statement issued in Abuja on Sunday by the Special Adviser to the President on Infrastructure, Ahmad Zakari, the Federal Government said it was unclear what empirical evidence the World Bank used to arrive at the figures.

It insisted that power distribution to consumers was steadily improving, arguing that it was inaccurate to make a blanket statement that 78 per cent of Nigerians had less than 12 hours daily access.

Responding to the Power Sector Recovery Programme Opinion Research Fact Sheet released by the World Bank, Zakari argued that empirical evidence from the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission showed that only 55 per cent of citizens connected to the grid were in tariff bands D and E which were less than 12 hours supply.

He said, “It is inaccurate to make a blanket statement that 78 per cent of Nigerians have less than 12 hours daily access. The data from NERC is that 55 per cent of citizens connected to the grid are in tariff bands D and E which are less than 12 hours supply.

“Those citizens are being fully subsidised to pre-September 2020 tariffs until Discos are able to improve supply.

“There is a N120bn CAPEX (capital expenditure) fund from Central Bank of Nigeria for Discos to improve infrastructure for these tariff classes similar to the metering programme that is ongoing.”

Zakari also kicked against aspects of the World Bank report which claimed that 58 per cent of electricity consumers in the country did not have meters to measure electricity use, dismissing the data as unverifiable.

He said, “It is unclear who did this survey and what the timeframe is. All citizens that have got free meters report they are happy about the reform trajectory.

“To date more than 600,000 meters have been delivered to Discos out of the one million in phase 0 with installation ongoing. Meters are sourced locally and are creating jobs in installation and manufacturing/assembly.”

The president’s adviser clarified that the service based tariff ensured that citizens paid more only when and if they were receiving high quality of service.

It noted that to achieve universal access to electricity by 2030, Nigeria would need to connect over one million households per year.