The federal government’s subsidy payment in the electricity sector dropped to its lowest level in the last two years due to the erratic power supply and load shedding experienced on the national grid in the first quarter of the year.
According to the Q1 report produced by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory (NERC), the government incurred a subsidy payment of N358.32bn, representing a N60.46bn (-14.44%) reduction in FGN’s subsidy compared to 2025/Q4 (N418.79bn).
It would be recalled that in the absence of cost-reflective tariffs for electricity bands B, C, D and E, the government undertakes to cover the resultant gap (between the cost-reflective and allowed tariff) in the form of tariff subsidies.
The report said the government incurred N126.48bn subsidy payment in January which reduced to N116.34bn in February and further dropped to N115.50bn in March.
When compared to previous quarters the government incurred N418.79bn debt in Q4 2025 a reduction from the N458.75bn in Q3 2025..
