The Managing Director/CEO of the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), Abba Aliyu, has said that Nigeria is ranked second in the world after India in terms of the number of people living without electricity.

Aliyu stated this on Channels Television’s programme, Morning Brief, on Monday, where he highlighted that the current administration has implemented a structured plan to tackle electricity poverty in Nigeria.

REA MD stated that agency focuses on off-grid and underserved communities, rather than the national grid, and does not handle issues related to electricity distribution companies (Discos).

“I recently came across a post by The Economist which showed that only India has more people without electricity access than Nigeria. But unlike many other countries, Nigeria now has a well-structured plan to address this challenge.

“If you have a problem with your Disco, that’s not within our mandate. Our focus is on communities without access to electricity,” he said.

The REA boss highlighted the recently launched $750 million World Bank Distributed Access through Renewable Energy Scale-up (DARES) initiative under the Mission 300 Compact, which aims to bring clean and reliable electricity to more than 17 million Nigerians without electricity.

On electricity tariff, the REA boss stated that many rural communities across the country now enjoy stable electricity supply through completed mini-grid projects, with some residents paying higher tariffs between N250 to N280 than Band A customers.

Aliyu emphasized that the electricity model implemented in rural regions not only ensured a dependable power supply but also revealed the readiness of rural inhabitants to pay for electricity.

The MD observed that the charges imposed on rural communities are contingent upon the overall cost of the infrastructure deployed by the agency.

He further stated that the system permits flexibility, with certain locations incurring lower costs than Band A customers, while others face considerably higher charges.