Nigerians to Pay for Stable Power by Paying off Electricity Subsidy Costs

President Bola Tinubu has directed the Budget Office of the Federation to establish a clearer framework for sharing electricity subsidy costs across all tiers of government.

The president said the burden should no longer be treated as an open-ended federal responsibility, stressing that Nigerians must be prepared to pay for stable power.

The directive was announced during a training session for staff of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) on the 2026 post-budget preparation using the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS).

Budget Office Director-General Tanimu Yakubu told participants that subsidies must be transparent and shared fairly.

“If we want a stable power sector, we must pay for the choices we make. When tariffs are held below cost, a gap is created. That gap is a subsidy. And a subsidy is a bill. In 2026, we will stop pretending that this bill can be left to the Federal Government alone,” he said.

Burden-Sharing Across Governments

Yakubu explained that the president’s directive is to invoke the electricity-sector legal framework to make burden-sharing practical and transparent.

“This means subsidy costs must be explicit, tracked and funded—so they do not return as arrears, liquidity crises or hidden liabilities in the market,” he stated.

He added that if any tier of government chooses affordability interventions, the funding responsibilities must be clear, agreed, and enforceable.

“This is not punishment. It is alignment. When everyone carries a fair share of the cost, everyone also has an incentive to support cost-reflective efficiency, targeted protection for the vulnerable and a power market that can actually deliver,” Yakubu said.

Represented by the Director of Expenditure, Yusuf Muhammed, Yakubu urged 2026 budget planners to make subsidy-related costs visible in their submissions.

“Support transparent, rules-based attribution and financing of affordability decisions,” he charged.

Budget Execution and Accountability

Yakubu also lamented that rollover budgeting and fragmented project lists have weakened execution in past years. He said such practices reduce clarity, dilute accountability, and create hidden obligations.

“We must speak plainly. Rollover budgeting and fragmented project lists have weakened execution. They reduce clarity. They dilute accountability. They create hidden obligations,” he declared.

According to him, the 2026 budget corrects these weaknesses. “It is built as one coherent implementation framework. In line with Mr President’s directive, the approach is to consolidate commitments into a single, visible pipeline and manage them as a disciplined programme of delivery. This is what I call the ‘single-train’ approach,” Yakubu explained.

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