Decades back, in those giddy days of military rule, David Mark, one of the top military brass, was reported as saying that telephones are not for the poor. Mark was the Minister of Communications whose duty was to make telephones available , accessible and affordable for all. He failed and to mask his failure, he blurted out the embarrassingly outrageous …

I don’t know how it is in your part of town. But it’s been a nightmare in mine, a supposedly middle-class residential area in Abuja, Nigeria’s federal capital. Rolling blackouts do not begin to explain the depth of the misery. It’s been a dreadful time of rolling and erratic blackouts. Like surfing an angry wave, if you understand what I …

The Federal Government has paid $120 million out of $1.3 billion owed to gas firms for the supply of gas for the running of power plants in Nigeria. This was disclosed in Abuja, on Thursday, during the 7th Nigeria International Energy Summit (NIES 2024), by the Director, Decade of Gas Secretariat Ed Ubong. He said the payment was to offset part of …

The Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Taoreed Lagbaja, has appealed for the liquidation of the N42 billion electricity debt of the Nigerian Army following the disconnection of various Army barracks and cantonments by power distribution companies. Lagbaja also revealed that the blackouts in barracks had led to the decomposition of corpses in Army mortuaries, a development that had warranted …

President Bola Tinubu has directed immediate payment of the electricity bill utilised by the State House to Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC). In a statement on Tuesday, the presidential Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Mr. Bayo Onanuga said the President’s directive followed the reconciliation of accounts between the State House Management and AEDC. In an advertorial AEDC published in …

Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, has said that Nigeria cannot continue to subsidise electricity, adding that the country needs to start implementing a cost-effective tariff model. This, he said, is because the country owes Generating Companies (GenCos) N1.3 trillion and gas companies $1.3billion. Adelabu stated this in a briefing in Abuja on Wednesday. The Minister said that only N450 billion was allocated …

Under the current arrangement, the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc (NBET), procures power in bulk from Independent Power Producers (IPPs), and GenCos for resale to DisCos, eligible or international customers. Under the new regulation or order approved by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), NBET that carries out the role of a “pool” administrator for the Nigerian electricity market, it …

The Vice Chancellor of the University of Ilorin (Unilorin),  Prof. Wahab Egbewole, says the institution expends about N1.3 billion annually on electricity, in spite of its financial challenges. The vice chancellor disclosed this on Monday in his office during an interactive session between the management and the Unilorin Students’ Union Executive Committee members. According to him, the university incurred a …

Power distribution companies, on Sunday, denied reports of electricity tariff hike beginning from today, 1 January 2024. They said the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) had not issued any directive for such. It was reported on Sunday that power distribution companies were planning to hike electricity tariffs from 1 January 2024, a development that was neither confirmed by the NERC …

  The Rural Electrification Agency (REA) has announced a partnership with CrossBoundary Energy Access Assets Nigeria Limited, a subsidiary of CrossBoundary Access, a leading project financer of mini-grids in Africa, and ENGIE Energy Access Nigeria, a leading provider of solar home systems and mini-grid solutions. This collaboration is set to bring clean and stable electricity to 15 rural communities spread …