The Federal Government has pushed back against media reports suggesting a planned increase in electricity tariffs, insisting no such hike is being considered for any consumer band on the national grid.
In a statement issued Saturday, the Office of the Vice President said comments made by the Special Adviser to the President on Power Infrastructure, Sadiq Wanka, had been misrepresented in some media platforms and required clarification.
“There is no planned tariff hike for any grid consumer across any service band,” the statement said, adding that the government remains committed to protecting vulnerable households through continued tariff support.
Wanka’s original remarks were delivered at the Asharami Square 3.0 event in Lagos on 22nd July 2026, where he discussed investment opportunities across the nation’s power value chain.
During the presentation, he reaffirmed the tariff policy direction set out in the National Integrated Electricity Policy, finalized in December 2024 and approved by the Federal Executive Council in May 2025, a long-standing, publicly available policy of gradually transitioning to cost-reflective tariffs, already implemented for ‘Band A’ electricity consumers.
The statement said for all other consumer bands, he was clear that there was no plan to remove subsidies. Rather, the Government was exploring how to deliver value and support more efficiently.
To this end, it said, the Special Adviser highlighted the Power Consumer Assistance Fund (PCAF), enabled by the Electricity Act 2023, as a mechanism for delivering targeted subsidies directly to vulnerable consumers — through consumer electricity accounts or other identity-linked means — improving transparency and strengthening investor confidence.
“The administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR recognises the vital role journalists play in policy communication, which is why it supports platforms like Asharami Square, which has a stated aim of deepening journalists’ capacity to convey the full context of complex policy discussions to the public. The government counts on the continued support of the media in this important national duty,” the statement noted.
