*Minister says priority is service improvement
*Targets 24-hour supply in two years
Peter Uzoho and Oluchi Chibuzor
The federal government yesterday denied plans to end electricity subsidy or increase tariffs in the immediate term after the Minister of Power, Mr. Joseph Tegbe, said the administration intended to bring the power subsidy regime to an end by next year as part of efforts to address the sector’s mounting liquidity crisis.
The minister, however, later clarified that there was no policy to raise electricity tariffs or remove subsidies for now, insisting that the government’s immediate priority is to improve power supply, expand metering, strengthen the transmission network and stabilise the national grid.Tegbe, stated this yesterday in Lagos at a national media roundtable on “Resetting Nigeria’s Power Sector.” “Let me address two issues. The first is that, there’s no policy by this administration to increase electricity tariff beyond the current rate,” Tegbe said.
