Success Nwogu 
The Federal Government has spent over N5 trillion in the last 10 years for electricity subsidy, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has said. According to a report from NERC seen by New Telegraph, the amount paid by FG for electricity subsidy from 2015 to 2024 increased by 171 per cent from what it would pay the 11 Electricity Distribution Companies from 2023 to 2024.
The data revealed that FG paid N225 billion in 2015; N302 billion in 2016, N351 billion in 2017; N440 billion in 2018 and N528 billion in 2019. The subsidy was reduced in 2020 to N501 billion, in addition the introduction of Multi Year Tariff Order (MYTO) by the government further reduced the subsidy in 2021 to N251 billion. MYTO is an order by NERC that allows the review of electricity tariff twice a year for a near cost reflective tariff. The order also made the tariff to fall to N144 billion in 2022, but the rising inflation and the devaluation of the dollar in 2023 pushed the subsidy up to N618 billion. The government said while the tariff cost was increased, consumers were made to pay the old price while it took the bills for the new charges that were occasioned by the economic headwind the country was facing.
The report noted that end-user tariff subsidy in Nigeria was pro-rich as the top income group consumed more electricity than the low income group, thereby benefiting more from subsidy than the lower income earners. Further analysis on what each DisCo will get as subsidy payment in 2024 indicated that the Ikeja Electricity (IE) will get the highest payment, followed by the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC). Conversely, the Yola Electricity Distribution Company (YEDC) will get the lowest payment, followed by the Jos Electricity Distribution Company (JEDCO). A breakdown showed that the IE wwould be paid N238.2bn in 2024, an increase of 207 per cent from the N77.4bn it was paid in 2023. This is followed by the AEDC which will receive N233.2bn.
