A Professor of Energy Economics and President of the Nigerian Economic Society (NES), Adeola Adenikinju, and a former consultant to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Dr. Samson Olalere, on Sunday faulted the planned electricity tariff increase.

The Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Energy, Olu Verheijen, had announced plans to increase electricity tariffs in the coming months, citing the need for a cost-reflective pricing model to attract private investment into the power sector.

Verheijen stated this at the Africa Heads of State Energy Summit in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, where Nigeria presented a $32 billion plan to expand electricity connections by 2030.

The presidential aide, however, said that the planned increase needed to be balanced by subsidies for less-affluent electricity users.

Reacting, Prof. Adenikinju said it was hard to justify an increase at present.
Adenikinju, who is a former Director of the Centre for Petroleum, Energy Economics, and Law (CPEEL), University of Ibadan, said: “It is hard to justify the increase in electricity tariffs at this time.

The promise of a stable electricity supply following the last tariff increase has not been fulfilled. Electricity supply remains epileptic in most cases.
“Nigerians are also reeling from the high inflationary environment.

Higher electricity tariffs would undoubtedly fuel the inflation rate in Nigeria.”

Also, Dr. Olalere, who is a development economist, said: “It is an aberration to plan a tariff increase when there is no power supply. Let the energy be stable so that people will know what they are paying for.

“If you are not providing the dividends of democracy, you should not be increasing tariffs everywhere. That of telecommunications is still there. The adviser should advise the president very well.

“The energy sector needs a revamp. It does not make sense to increase tariffs when there is no supply.”