FG can’t continue to fund Power Tariff shortfalls — Minister Tegbe

Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe has stated that the Federal Government can no longer sustain the coverage of electricity tariff shortfalls while attempting to supply power nationwide.

Tegbe made the remarks recently during an energy conference organized by the Harvard Business School Association of Nigeria, where industry experts and regulators gathered to discuss the nation’s power sector challenges and strategic solutions.

According to the minister, the administration is actively addressing structural bottlenecks in the electricity market, including low revenue collection, deficient metering infrastructure, mounting debts owed to power generation companies (GenCos), and underlying weaknesses in market design.

Tegbe emphasized that systemic failure by operators across the value chain to recover operational costs remains a primary reason the country struggles to maintain stable electricity supply.

“Commercially viable pricing will work where the supplier can actually collect his money and get paid. There’s no sense in commercially viable pricing if you don’t collect money,” he said.

The minister announced that the government is collaborating with the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) to overhaul tariff assumptions and market structures. He questioned the continued viability of the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading (NBET) model, which purchases power in bulk and resells to distribution companies (DisCos) without full cost recovery, noting that the agency should have been phased out years ago.

“As for NBET, we know that every human being, even businessmen in this room, would take opportunities where they see it. NBET as a government entity today buys bulk, sells bulk. Because it’s the government, people take advantage,” Tegbe explained.

“Now, NBET ought to have been sunset about five years ago, and I’m telling you my own plan, at the end of the day, is to move from that model. That model will not help Nigeria. We can’t keep covering tariff shortfalls and think we’ll give power to every Nigerian.”