In defence of the 241 per cent increase in electricity tariff, the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, has alleged that the cheap tariff empowered Nigerians to waste electricity.

Adebayo disclosed this during a ministerial briefing in Abuja on Friday.

The federal government increased the electricity tariff for customers from N66 per kilowatt to N255.

This increase would affect customers in Band A, who consume 20 hours of supply daily.

In his defence of the tariff surge, Adelabu said, “A lot of people will come back from work and they want to have dinner or they want to play with their colleagues down the road, they switch on the AC for the room to be cooling before they come back.

“Some people will be going to work in the morning and their freezers are left on for days. When all their items are frozen. This is because they are not paying enough.

“We have all been overseas before, we know how conscious the power consumers are to consumption of electricity, this will enable us to manage consumption”.

Commenting on the electricity subsidy, the minister said it would have been insensitive for the Nigerian government to continue paying a 100 per cent electricity subsidy, yet consumers abuse power.

He noted that 85 per cent of electricity consumers will still get power subsidies, however, the N2.9trn electricity subsidy in 2024 is too much of a burden for Nigeria.

“It is because the government is sensitive that 100 per cent of the subsidy will be removed. That is why we start with gradually removing the subsidy for the selected customers,” he said.

Adelabu also assured that through the presidential power initiatives, electricity infrastructures would be enhanced and improved across the transmission and distribution sector.