ABUJA – Nigerians spent a jaw-dropping total of N16.5 trillion in 2023 to power their homes and businesses through the purchase of diesel, petrol, and generators, the Federal Government revealed on Tuesday.
This figure dwarfs the N1 trillion in revenue generated by the formal power sector, including electricity generation, transmission, and distribution companies, over the same period.
“If you know how much our people spend buying diesel, petrol, generators, and servicing them in a year, the last study we had in 2023 showed a total of N16.5 trillion was spent on this self-generation,” said Power Minister Adebayo Adelabu at the ongoing 2024 Nigeria Oil and Gas conference.
Adelabu noted that even many industries have resorted to operating their own captive power plants fueled by gas generators, further contributing to this astronomical informal spending on electricity.
“Even if it is just a quarter of that informal spending on generators and fuel is put into the official power sector, we are talking about an incremental revenue of N5 trillion that will bring the sector’s revenue to N6 trillion,” the minister stated. “Sincerely, we are going to have something close to uninterrupted 24/7 power supply in Nigeria.”
The government is now working to regain the trust of power consumers and encourage them to reconnect to the national grid, as it remains the cheapest source of electricity compared to private generator use.
Adelabu revealed that “Band A” customers, the most served grid-tied segment, are now enjoying up to 24 hours of uninterrupted power supply and paying only N206 per kilowatt-hour. In contrast, those using gas-powered generators pay around N290/kWh, while petrol and diesel generator users fork out N450/kWh and upwards of N900/kWh respectively.
The minister stressed the urgent need for increased investment in Nigeria’s gas sector to unlock the full potential of the power industry and achieve the country’s Energy Transition Plan goals.
