MINISTER SAYS THE POWER SECTOR NEEDS 10 BILLION DOLLARS TO BUILD INFRASTRUCTURE

The Minister of Power ADEBAYO ADELABUsays the Federal Government requires 10 billion dollars in annual investment to revive the power sector for the next 10 years.

ADELABU at a one-day investigative hearingyesterday in Abuja on stopping the electricity tariff increase by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, organized by the Senate Committee on Power said the investment is needed for the infrastructure requirement for the stability of the sector, but the government cannot afford it.

The Minister said for them to attract investors and investment, they must make the sector attractive, and the only way to achieve that is by commercial pricing.

He stated that the major task in the sector was the absence of liquidity, saying that the sector had been operating on a subsidized tariff regime, given the absence of a cost-reflective tariff.

ADELABU said that the subsidy had not been funded over the years as huge liabilities were being owed to the generating companies and the gas companies.