By Abiola Olawale
Lagos lawyer and rights activist, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), has raised alarm, alleging that the federal government through the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) is allegedly trying to orchestrate a plot to raise funds for distribution companies in the country through the recent electricity tariff hike.
Falana said the recent tariff increase for Band A consumers by the government cannot be justified under the Electricity Act of 2023.
The senior lawyer argued that the federal government removed electricity subsidy in 2022 and so the government, by the new tariff hike, is making Nigerians pay for the inefficiency and profligacy of those managing the electricity sector.
Falana said: “Under that law, there are certain steps to take and we are going to embark on those steps tomorrow (Monday) which is to raise serious objections with respect to the impunity that has characterized the recent increase.
“At the appropriate time if there is no response, we will have to go to court because the government had warned, the minister had warned that the increase this time around will only fetch the government or the discos N1.6trn whereas the destination is N3trn.
“So, the poor people that he (the minister) is talking about, the other bands, very soon, the government is going to extend the increases to them so that the N1.4trn the minister is talking about will be recovered.
“They (the government) are increasing tariffs to assist the cash-strapped discos majority of which have now been taken over by the banks and AMCON, and the banks and AMCON have no competence to run electricity companies.”
The New Diplomat reports that NERC had on April 3, 2024, raised the electricity tariff for customers enjoying 20 hours of power supply daily, under the Band A classification. The increased tariff to N225 kilowatt per hour from the previous N66, a development that has been heavily criticized by many Nigerians, considering the immediacy of the tariff hike and the current hardship in the land.
