The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has reported that in Q4 2023, a total of 672,198 passengers travelled via rail system relative to 1,337,108 reported in the corresponding quarter of 2022, indicating a decline rate of -49.73 percent.
Regarding revenue generation, N1.07 billion was received from passengers during the reference period, showing a decrease of 7.51 percent from the N1.15 billion recorded in the same quarter of the previous year, while the volume of goods/cargos transported in Q4 2023 stood at 119,286 tons compared to 53,136 tons recorded in Q4 2022.
Also, N423.22 million was collected from goods/cargos conveyed in Q4 2023, up by 169.16 percent from N157.23 million received in Q4 2022, and other receipts amounted to N393.72 million, showing an increase of 3.02 percent in Q4 2023 from the N382.17 million collected in Q4 2022.
The NBS said on an annual basis, the number of passengers in 2023 fell by 32.08 percent compared to the previous year, and the revenue received from passengers declined by 2.64 percent in 2023, while volume of cargo and revenue from cargo rose by 102.04 percent, and 144.32 percent respectively relative to 2022.
A report on Transport Fare Watch for December 2023, in the Q3 2023, informed that the average fare paid by commuters for bus journeys within the city per drop declined to 13.83 percent from N1,047.64 in November to N902.70 in December 2023, while on a year-on-year basis, it rose by 40.03 percent from N644.66 in December 2022.
The average fare paid by commuters for bus journey, in another category, intercity per drop was N7,402.16 in December 2023, representing an increase of 19.26 percent on a month-on-month basis compared to N6,206.53 in November 2023, while on a year-on-year basis, the fare rose by 86.40 percent from N3,971.22 in December 2022.
According to the NBS, in air travel, the average fare paid by air passengers for specified routes for a single journey was N85,692.12 in December 2023, showing an increase of 5.36 percent compared to the previous month of November 2023.
However, on a year-on-year basis, the fare rose by 14.87 percent from N74,597.30 in December 2022.
The NBS said, the average transport fare paid on Okada transportation was N419.73 in December 2023 which declined by 11.29 percent when compared with the N473.13 recorded in November 2023, while on a year-on-year basis, the fare declined by 9.04 percent when compared with N461.45 in December 2022.
It added that for waterway passenger transportation, the average fare paid in December 2023 increased to N1,386.76 from N1,352.70 which represents an increase of 2.52 percent on monthly basis, while on a year-on-year basis, it increased by 34.77 percent from N1,029.00 in December 2022.
NBS: DisCos generated N294.9bn in Q4 2023
Electricity distribution companies (DisCos) in Nigeria made a total of N294.95 billion in the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2023.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) disclosed this in its latest report on electricity for Q4 2023, released on Monday.
NBS said the revenue generated by the DisCos rose by 26.96 percent compared to the N232.32 billion recorded in Q4 2022.
“Revenue collected by the DISCOs during the period was N294.95 billion from N260.16 billion in Q3 2023,” the bureau said.
“On a year-on-year basis, revenue generated in the reference period rose by 26.96% from N232.32 billion recorded in Q4 2022.
“Electricity supply was 6,432. (Gwh) in Q4 2023 from 5,732 (Gwh) in the previous quarter.
“However, on a year-on-year basis, electricity supply increased by 14.64% compared to 5,611 (Gwh) reported in Q4 2022.”
Meanwhile, the total number of customers in Q4 2023 stood at 12.12 million – up from 11.71 million in Q3 2023.
This represents an increase of 3.46 percent.
“On a year-on-year basis, customer numbers in Q4 2023 rose by 9.59 percent from 11.06 million reported in Q4 2022,” NBS said.
“Similarly, metered customers stood at 5.61 million in Q4 2023, indicating a decrease in the growth rate of 1.32% from 5.68 million recorded in the preceding quarter. On a year-on-year basis, this grew by 9.38% from the figure reported in Q4 2022 which was 5.13 million.”
IKEJA ELECTRICITY MADE THE MOST REVENUE
NBS said estimated customers during the quarter under review were 5.83 million, showing a decrease of 3.34 percent compared to 6.03 million in Q3 2023.
Similarly, on a year-on-year basis, estimated customers also decreased by 1.73 percent in Q4 2023 from 5.93 million in Q4 2022.
Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company had the highest number of estimated bill customers of 1.36 million, followed by Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (709,104), Yola Electricity Distribution Company (688,164), and Benin Electricity Distribution Company (676,324), and Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company (636,593).
Ikeja electricity distribution company has the highest revenue of N59.75 million in Q4 2023, despite having the lowest estimated customers of 217,581.
On February 15, Adebayo Adelabu, minister of power, said it is difficult for the federal government to continue to subsidise electricity, saying Nigeria’s debt to generation and gas companies is N3 trillion.
In Q3 last year, the federal government spent N204.59 billion on electricity subsidy and plans to expend an additional N1.6 trillion in 2024 to enable citizens to access power at a low cost.
The federal government, however, said there are plans underway to pay all gas companies from April.
