Adebayo Adelabu, minister of power, says investors are now showing interest in the electricity sector because the federal government increased electricity tariff for Band A customers.

On April 3, the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) approved an increase in electricity tariff for customers under the Band A classification.

The commission said customers under the category, who receive 20 hours of electricity supply daily, will now pay N225 per kilowatt (kW), starting from April 3, up from N66.

Appearing before the senate committee on power on Monday, Adelabu said the federal government could not afford to pay subsidies on power anymore.

“The government will be needing about 2.8 trillion to subsidise electricity this year, and we look at the government budget itself, we look at the provision for subsidy, we discover and confirm that the government could not afford to pay,” he said.

“This government budget is 28 trillion naira. N2.8 trillion is a subsidy for power separately. It is over 10 percent of the budget, which is not realistic for us to ask the government to pay.

“For this sector to be revived, the government needs to spend nothing less than $10 billion annually in the next 10 years. This is because of the infrastructure requirement for the stability of the sector, but the government cannot afford that.

“And so we must make this sector attractive to investors and to lenders. So for us to attract investors and investment, we must make the sector attractive, and the only way it can be made attractive is that there must be commercial pricing.

“If the value is still at N66 and the government is not paying subsidy, the investors will not come. But now that we have increased the tariff for A Band, there is interest shown by investors.”

Adelabu said more than N1.3 trillion is being owed to generating companies.

“There has not been funding for this subsidy. And this has culminated into each debt yearly now for the operators in the industry, especially the generating companies and the gas supply companies,” he said.

“As of the last estimate, we said 1.3 trillion naira is being owed to the five generating companies, while the legacy debt of the gas supply companies stood at $1.3 billion in 2023.

“The total tariff, the total subsidy for the tariff, was supposed to be N720 billion. The government only funded N400 billion living a total of over 300 billion brought forward to 2024.

“And at the current pricing regime, we estimated that it will retain the tariff at current rates.”

Adelabu added that the high indebtedness is the reason the government removed subsidies on electricity tariff.

A former director at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), John Ikechukwu Ayoh, has testified against Godwin Emefiele, former governor of the apex bank, in the ongoing case of abuse of office at the Lagos high court.

Emefiele and his co-defendant, Henry Omoile, is presently being tried on a 26-count charge.

Omoile and the previous governor of the CBN entered not guilty pleas to all of the accusations.

Ayoh was the second witness in the case against Emefiele that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) called during the court hearings on Monday.

Ayoh stated in court that he did not work directly under Emefiele during his time at the Apex Bank, which he worked there from June 2014 to April 2019.

Ayoh added that he used to report to Adebayo Adelabu, a former deputy governor of CBN, who is now the minister of power.

The witness said he was the head of procurement and support services (PSS) of the apex bank, which was vested with powers to receive bids and select successful bidders.

The former CBN director said he collected money from contractors as gratification of awarding contracts to them based on the instruction from Emefiele.

The witness said Emefiele usually sends his personal assistant (PA), John Adetona, to collect the contractors’ kickback from him.

Ayoh said he collected $400,000 and $200,000 in cash from contractors on two different occasions and handed them over to Emefiele’s PA.

“The first transaction was $400,000 and the second one was $200,000 in cash. I was in my house when the first envelope was brought to me. His assistant was asked to collect the money,” he told the court.

“One of the vendors had a contract with CBN which involved the implementation of data storage and infrastructure.

“The first package was collected in my residence at Lekki phase one, while the second package was collected at the head office in Lagos.”

During cross-examination by Olalekan Ojo, counsel to Emefiele, Ayoh said he was under duress from the former CBN to accept gratifications on his behalf.

“No, I was under duress from my boss (referring to Emefiele). We were faced with tremendous pressure to bend the rule,” the witness said when asked about aiding the commission of a crime by collecting the money.

Asked if he indicated in his statement with the EFCC that the money was meant to influence the award of contracts, the witness said some parts of his statement implied that.

“Who told you that it (the money) is for gratification,” Emefiele’s counsel asked.

“The cash is for gratification to the governor for awarding the contracts. He (Emefiele) asked for it. He won’t approve the contract without gratification,” the witness said.

On whether he was arrested by the EFCC, the witness said the anti-graft agency invited him and was granted bail afterwards.

Emefiele’s counsel told the court that the witness must have traded being charged by the EFCC to become a witness against the former CBN boss.

• INTERIM BAIL

After the cross-examination of the witness, Emefiele’s counsel sought a fresh interim bail for the former CBN governor, pending the fulfilment of the bail conditions earlier stipulated by the court.

Ojo told the court that the initial interim bail granted to Emefiele ended today (Monday), adding that the defence team has not been able to meet the bail conditions.

He urged the court to grant Emefiele another interim bail that would end on May 17.

Rahman Oshodi, the presiding judge, granted the request and ordered that Ojo swear to an affidavit to provide Emefiele in the next adjourned date.

Oshodi adjourned to May 3, 9, and 17 for the continuation of the trial.

Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, alongside his wife, Meghan, will in May visit Nigeria, the defence headquarters (DHQ) has said.

Tukur Gusau, director of defence information, made this known in a statement issued on Sunday.

According to the statement, Harry’s decision to visit Nigeria is sequel to an invitation from the DHQ and will revolve around conversations on possibilities of Nigeria hosting the Invictus Games.

The Invictus Games is an international multi-sport event. Participants include wounded, injured, and ill servicemen and women, whether serving or veterans.

It is organised by the Invictus Games Foundation founded by Harry.

The international multi-sport event also offers a recovery pathway for the affected soldiers and spotlights their rehabilitation journey.

Last year, Nigeria participated in the games for the first time. The country was the only African representative at the event, swooping gold and bronze medals along the way.

“During their stay in the country, they will be meeting with Service members and will be hosted to arrays of cultural activities,” the statement said.

“The visit is to consolidate Nigeria’s strong hold at the game and the possibility of hosting the event years later.”

Gusau said Mohammed Baduru, minister of defence, who was at the event in Germany last year, is keen on playing host should Nigeria get the nod.

The trip will also be a first for Meghan who had once said she has 43 percent Nigerian ancestry.

Additional details about the visit are expected to be made public in the coming days.