Adebayo Adelabu, minister of power, has apologised for his comment criticising Nigerians who usually keep their freezers and air conditioners on when they are not at home.
Speaking in an interview with Channels Television on Thursday, Adelabu said the comment was not intended to insult the sensibilities of Nigerians.
Last Thursday, the minister of power said Nigerians lacked a culture of power consumption management due to the affordability of electricity supply.
“A lot of people will come back from work, they want to have dinner, or they want to see their colleagues down the road, they switch on the AC for the room to cool before they come back,” Adelabu said.
“Some people will be going to work in the morning, a freezer that you left on for days, they will still leave it on when all the items in the freezer are frozen, and five, six, eight hours of their absence will not make it to defreeze, they will still leave it to be consuming power just because we are not paying enough.”
The comment did not go down well with many Nigerians, who criticised the minister for his handling of the ministry of power.
Speaking on the comment, Adelabu said the statement was borne out of his passion for a change in the power sector.
He added that the remark was directed at customers in the Band A category, who are expected to enjoy 20 hours of electricity supply in a day.
“It was never intended to insult the sensibilities of Nigerians in any way. I never said people should switch off their freezers,” Adelabu said.
“It was actually innocent advice with regard to energy consumption management, which we believe will go a long way in reducing people’s energy bills.
“The example of the freezer might not have gone down well with the majority of Nigerians. I will say sorry about that. It was never my intention to insult anyone.
“It was out of my passion and eagerness to ensure that we make a change in the sector, which has suffered a lot of setbacks for some years.
“We said we needed to cultivate a culture of energy consumption management. It was just a comical illustration.”
Recently, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) approved an increase in the electricity tariff for customers under the Band A classification.