I Don’t Know What He Uses In His House But Electricity Is Not Cheap Anywhere In The World – APC Secretary Replies Lagos Deputy Gov

The National Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Ajibola Bashiru, has defended the charges to electricity consumers in Nigeria, noting that energy providers have to cover the costs of their operation.

Bashiru noted that the companies are run with a profit objective, and they have to cover production, transmission, and distribution costs.

According to him, there is nowhere in the world where electricity is cheap, and Nigeria itself is not running a socialist system where production, transmission, and distribution of electricity are carried out for the free use of citizens.

Naijaonpoint reports the APC scribe made the statement on Tuesday against the background of a recent complaint by the Lagos State Deputy Governor, Obafemi Hamzat, of a sharp surge in his monthly electricity bill.

Hamzat, in a meeting with the Rural Electricity Agency (REA) in Lagos on Monday, complained that the disco raised the electricity bill to his quarters from ₦2.7m in March to ₦29m in April.

In response, Bashiru, who spoke during an interview with Channels Television, noted that charges could be determined by the size of the house, gadgets in use and energy requirements.

The former Senator, who represented Osun Central Senatorial District in the 9th Senate from 2019 to 2023, added that the government is doing its best in not only making power supply available to the citizens, but also replacing age-long infrastructure deficit in the energy sector.

“Energy is not cheap anywhere in the world. Nigeria is not running a socialist society. Let us get it very right. We are in a globalised economy.

“Of recent, the transmission companies have been unbundled to address the problem of inefficiency and for adequate focus to ensure there is electricity supply for Nigerians.

“As to the claim by the deputy governor of Lagos State, I don’t know the level of gadgets he has in his house. I wouldn’t know the size of his house and I wouldn’t know the energy requirement that would occasion that huge amount of money and the basis of that bill.

“But it would not be correct to say that that humongous amount would apply to ordinary Nigerians who just run their lifestyle based on watching television, using electricity, and possibly when there is heat, using air condition,” Bashiru submitted.

Hamzat’s Condition Should Not Be Generalized

The APC scribe added that what the Lagos Deputy Governor consumes in terms of energy or gets charged by his distribution company, can’t be used as a basis for average Nigerians.

“You cannot pigeonhole to say people spend N20,000 in a matter of days. What is the cost of generating, what is the cost of transmission? What is the cost of distribution?

“It should be run on the basis of economic efficiency so that the cost of production of the energy itself must be recovered and they must be able to make profit. We are not running a socialist economy,” he said.