The Federal Government has questioned 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 by the Special Adviser to the President on Infrastructure, Mr Ahmad Rufai Zakari, the Federal Government queried the empirical evidence used to arrive at the figures.
It insisted that power distribution to consumers is steadily improving.
Zakari said it is inaccurate to make a blanket statement that 78 per cent of Nigerians have less than 12 hours daily access, arguing that empirical evidence from the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) shows that only 55 per cent of citizens connected to the grid are in tariff bands D and E which are less than 12 hours supply.
“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 N120 billion CAPEX fund from CBN for DIsCOs to improve infrastructure for these tariff classes similar to the metering program that is ongoing,” Zakari said.
Zakari also kicked against aspects of the World Bank report which claimed that 58 per cent of electricity consumers in the country do not have meters to measure electricity use, dismissing the data as unverifiable.
According to him, “It is unclear who did this survey and what the time frame is. All citizens that have gotten free meters report they are happy about the reform trajectory.
“To date, more than 600k meters have been delivered to DISCOs out of the 1 million in phase 0 with installation ongoing. Meters are sourced locally and are creating jobs in installation and manufacturing/assembly.”
Zakari clarified that the Service-Based Tariff ensures that citizens pay more only when and if they are receiving a high quality of service.
“All consumers have been communicated their bands and bands are published during billing. It is inconceivable that anyone would imply that 4 out of 5 Nigerians are not intelligent enough to understand tariff classes and what they are paying for,” he explained.
YOU SHOULD NOT MISS THESE HEADLINES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
COVID-19: Nigeria Recorded 624 New Infections Last Week, Lowest In Over Five Months
Last week, Nigeria recorded 624 new COVID-19 infections which is the lowest the country recorded in five months, Tribune Online analysis shows.
The 624 new cases reported between March 28 and April 3 is a reduction from the 849 recorded the previous week…FG counters World Bank’s survey on power situation
FG counters World Bank’s survey on power situation
and then