The Federal Government of Nigeria has disbursed a staggering ₦633.30 billion in electricity subsidies in the first quarter of 2024, according to the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission’s latest quarterly report.
This amount marks a 150.5% increase from the ₦252.76 billion paid in the fourth quarter of 2023.
The significant rise in subsidy payments is attributed to the government’s policy of harmonizing exchange rates and the lack of cost-reflective tariffs across all electricity distribution companies.
Despite the substantial subsidy, distribution companies (DisCos) reported a revenue shortfall, collecting only ₦291.62 billion out of the ₦368.65 billion billed to customers.
The total energy received by all DisCos stood at 7,171.93 GWh, with 5,769.52 GWh billed to end-use customers, resulting in an overall billing efficiency of 80.45%.
Among the DisCos, Ikeja DisCo led the revenue collection chart with ₦57.88 billion, followed by Eko DisCo with ₦48.74 billion, and Yola DisCo with ₦5.46 billion.
