The Minister of Power Chief Adebayo Adelabu has again cried out over the unsustainability of the Federal Government payment of electricity subsidy, noting it is now rising to N200 billion monthly
According to him, owing to subsidy backlog, the government is now indebted to the electricity Generation Companies (GenCos) to the tone of N4 trillion, including the N1.94 trillion for 2024 alone.
He insisted that retaining the current tariffs is unsustainable as it is draining the public funds that are needed to upgrade infrastructure.
Adelabu made this known at the weekend while speaking at a two-day retreat organized by the Senate Committee on Power.
The press statement his Strategic Communication and Media Relations, Mr Bolaji Tunji issued from Abuja quoted him as saying, “The sector also faces a ₦4 trillion subsidy backlog owed to generation companies, including ₦1.94 trillion for 2024 alone. With monthly subsidy shortfalls now hitting ₦200 billion, the Minister warned that maintaining current tariffs is “unsustainable,” straining public funds needed for infrastructure upgrades.”
Adelabu added that “To salvage the sector, we will soon embark on restructuring underperforming DisCos and tightening enforcement of performance benchmarks.
However, without urgent capital injection into distribution networks, gains in generation—including a historic 6,003MW output in March 2025—and transmission upgrades, such as 61 new transformers deployed in 2024, will fail to translate to reliable household supply”.
Adelabu spoke on the persistent crisis threatening to derail progress In the sector which is chronic underinvestment in distribution infrastructure, which continues to cripple service delivery nationwide in spite of landmark reforms in the electricity sector.
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