FG: N1 Trillion Saved from Electricity Subsidy will Improve Power Supply, Social Services

Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja and John Shiklam in Kaduna

The federal government has said that the over N1 trillion that would be saved from the withdrawal of electricity subsidy will be reinvested in improving power supply and the provision of social services in the country.

Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, gave the assurance yesterday in Kaduna as a guest of the Hausa audience participatory programme of Radio Nigeria Kaduna, “Hannu Da Yawa.”

Idris said the disproportionate amount of electricity subsidy, approximately 40 per cent, was benefiting only about 15 per cent of the electricity consumers, comprising affluent individuals and industrial clusters, who enjoyed about 20 hours of electricity.

“It is essential to emphasise that the funds to be saved from the withdrawal of electricity subsidy will be reinvested in enhancing power supply across the country and improving other vital social services such as health and education,” he said.

The minister noted that 85 per cent of the population that fall under the different categorisations of the new electricity supply regime still enjoys subsidy.

He said that the new Electricity Act, signed by President Bola Tinubu, has strengthened the governance structure of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) and empowers the commission to place severe sanctions on electricity distribution companies for infractions relating to billings and supply of electricity to consumers.

Regarding post-fuel subsidy intervention programmes, Idris said the supply of N100 billion worth of CNG buses was still on track as the specification of the buses was not bought off the shelf.

He stated that the government would soon launch CNG conversion centres across the country to encourage Nigerians to convert their vehicles from fuel consumption to CNG to reduce the cost of transportation.

He said the committee set up by the president to review the operational mechanism of the National Social Investment Programmes (NSIP) has submitted its report to facilitate the resumption of the programmes, which will be providing N25,000 Conditional Cash Transfers to 15 million poor and vulnerable households for three months among other interventions.

He dispelled the notion that the Tinubu administration was out to shortchange the northern part of the country, stressing that the federal government would continue to invest funds in the development of projects in the north.

On agriculture, the Minister said the federal government has expanded the cultivation of wheat, rice, cassava, and maize, under the dry season farming Initiative on about 500,000 hectares of farmland.

He expressed delight that Kebbi State is now a hub of tomato farming and processing in the country through collaboration with a leading food processing firm, GB Foods, which has set up a sprawling factory for the production of tomato paste.

He said plenty of farmers, mostly women, were now involved in tomato farming in the state because of the enabling environment and support from the off-taker, GB Foods, which had shown a remarkable commitment to doing business in the country.