The Federal Government of Nigeria paid a staggering ₦633.30 billion in electricity subsidies in the first quarter of 2024, according to the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission’s quarterly report.
This amount represents a 150.5% increase from the ₦252.76 billion paid in the fourth quarter of 2023.
The report attributes the significant increase to the government’s policy to harmonize exchange rates and the absence of cost-reflective tariffs across all electricity distribution companies.
Despite the substantial subsidy, the distribution companies (DisCos) recorded a revenue shortfall, collecting only ₦291.62 billion out of ₦368.65 billion billed to customers.
The report also highlights the energy billing efficiency, with the total energy received by all DisCos standing at 7,171.93GWh, while the energy billed to end-use customers was 5,769.52GWh, resulting in an overall billing efficiency of 80.45%.
Ikeja DisCo topped the revenue collection chart with ₦57.88 billion, followed closely by Eko DisCo with ₦48.74 billion. Yola DisCo recorded the lowest revenue collection at ₦5.46 billion.
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