Managing Director of Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC), Chijioke Okwuokenye, has said electricity tariffs would eventually reduce with sustained efforts to cut losses and expand supply.

Speaking at a media briefing in Abuja, Okwuokenye argued that the current tariff regime reflected market realities but insisted that as energy volumes increased and system losses declined, prices would “find their level”.

He maintained that no operator benefited from high tariffs and stressed that the long-term objective was to make electricity more affordable by improving efficiency and increasing liquidity in the power value chain.

A major obstacle to tariff reduction, he said, was energy theft, stressing that the rate of electricity theft affected the sector.

Okwuokenye recounted a recent case involving a hotel customer who was allegedly caught diverting supply underground after being disconnected for non-payment.

According to him, such practices significantly inflate technical and commercial losses, which stood at about 42 per cent before recent interventions reduced them to roughly 32 per cent.

On vandalism, the Chief Operating Officer, Blessing Ogbe, described the destruction of cables, transformers and other equipment as a persistent operational setback.

Ogbe urged closer collaboration among communities, security agencies and operators, noting that the cost of replacing vandalised infrastructure ultimately feeds back into the system and affects service delivery.

The AEDC boss also linked improved supply and eventual tariff moderation to the completion of critical transmission projects by the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN).

Meanwhile, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Niger Delta Power Holding Company, Jennifer Adighije, has urged the Federal Government to remove electricity subsidies for all customers and implement fully cost-reflective tariffs to restore financial stability in Nigeria’s power sector.

Adighije made the call in a statement made available to our correspondent in Lagos.

The MD, while highlighting deep-rooted structural and liquidity challenges that constrain the performance of the electricity market, advocated decoupling government subsidies from electricity tariffs and the gradual implementation of fully cost-reflective tariffs across all customer segments.

According to her, establishing a financially viable electricity market is essential for restoring investor confidence, attracting private-sector participation, and ensuring sustainable sector growth.

The NDPHC boss lamented that liquidity constraints remained a major concern in the sector, revealing that only about 30 per cent of market invoices were currently settled, thereby creating financial strain across the electricity value chain.

She also identified gas supply shortages as a persistent challenge affecting thermal generation plants, explaining that gas procurement alone accounted for nearly 60 per cent of operational costs for power generation companies.