Featured, Power
Although Nigerians are currently paying the new electricity tariffs introduced by the NERC, they are, however, hopeful that the ongoing discussions between the Organized Labour and the federal government will result in the reversal of the current tariffs or a further reduction in tariffs in line with the harsh economic realities in the country.
By Benprince Ezeh
DESPITE the warning by the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, against the upward review of electricity tariffs in the country by the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, the Commission has gone ahead to implement the new tariff regime.
On December 30, 2020, Sanusi Garba, Chairman, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, signed an order (NERC/225/2020) for electricity distribution companies to increase tariffs, effective from January 1, 2021, and in a statement, the NERC said: “The Commission, NERC, hereby state unequivocally that no approval has been granted for a 50% tariff increase in the tariff order for electricity distribution companies which took effect on January 1, 2021.
“The tariff for customers on service bands D & E (customers being served less than an average of 12hrs of supply per day over a period of one month) remains frozen and subsidised in line with the policy direction of the Federal Government.
“In compliance with the provisions of the Electric Power Sector Reform Act, EPRSA, and the nation’s tariff methodology for biannual minor review, the rates for service bands A, B, C, D, and E have been adjusted by NGN2.00 to NGN4.00 per kwhr to reflect the partial impact of inflation and movement in foreign exchange rates.”
The minister of power, Sale Mammam, on January 7, said on his Twitter that the claims of a 50% increase in the tariffs were false. “It is unfortunate that these reports have led to confusion within the public,” he said.
According to Mamman, the NERC should inform all DisCos to revert to tariffs that were applicable in December 2020. “To promote a constructive conclusion of the dialogue with the Labour Centers (through the Joint Ad-Hoc Committee), I have directed NERC to forestall the implementation of the duly performed minor review (which adjusted tariffs between N2 per kWh and N4 per kWh) until the conclusion of the Joint Ad Hoc Committee’s work at the end of January 2021,” he said.
Reacting to the announcement of the upward review of electricity tariffs by the NERC, the NLC President Ayuba Wabba, said on January 6, 2021, that the NLC “vehemently condemns this attempt to start the Year 2021 for Nigerians on the grindstone. It is even colder than this tariff increase was announced without recourse to the negotiation process that the government and Organized Labour in Nigeria signed up to about three months ago.
The representatives of Organized Labour in the committees set up during negotiation with government to engage on issues in our electricity and petroleum sectors heard of this insensitive hike from the media like other Nigerians. This is indeed a stellar performance in negotiation in bad faith by the federal government. This is completely unacceptable to the working people of Nigeria.
He warned of the effects this decision on goods and services in the country.
“There is no gainsaying the fact that this tariff hike would sound the death knell for many manufacturing outfits in Nigeria as many of them would resort to either mass lay-off of workers and or direct importation of finished goods.
“Finally, we are bothered by the doublespeak in the NERC communique announcing this hike in tariff. In one breath, NERC denied any new increase in tariff. In another breath, it announced that electricity tariff would be adjusted from N2 per kilowatt/hour to N4 per kilowatt/hour – a 100% tariff increase. The statement in quick reversals also lumped consumers in Band D and E under the new tariff. This volte-face is contrary to our agreement with government which excluded Band D and E from further increases in electricity tariff. This clearly paints a picture of a deliberate mission by government to hoodwink and take Nigerians for a ride,” the NLC President said.
He urged the federal government to quickly withdraw “this uncanny New Year Gift or face an unprecedented industrial resistance by Nigerian workers.
Nigerians have bled enough already. We will bleed no more”.
But in spite of the condemnation of the decision of the NERC to go ahead with the planned upward review of the tariffs, not much has been heard from the NLC as Nigerians groan under the new tariffs.
Already, some electricity consumers are paying the new tariffs, notwithstanding the agreement reached between the federal government and the organised Labour in November to provide a tariff relief of N10.20 per kilowatt-hour for Nigerians for a period of three months.
Jude Okoro, a welder in Aba, Abia state told Realnews that it would be difficult to ascertain the people receiving less than 12 hours power supply as stated in the tariff.
“How will DISCOs know people receiving less than 12 hours of light, all we want is for government to assist us to reverse the increase in tariffs as we are still battling with our losses due to the COVID 19 pandemic,’’ he said.
Another consumer, Chinenye Uzo, a stylist in Surulere, Lagos said that the increase was affecting her business and that power was not constant as she had to buy fuel for her generator.
“This increase is not good for our business since the COVID-19 period, businesses are slow,” she said.
For Stanley Adeyemi, a barber, N5000 recharge before January this year lasts for more than two months, but now it barely stays for a month. “I don’t know if the power people deceived us or the federal government.
“My N5000 recharge barely lasts for a month now unlike before.
“I am tired of the way they give us light these days and I am thinking about taking my electricity off and concentrate on the generator because they don’t even give the light anymore,” he said.
Olalekan Adebayo, a residence in Ikeja said that he was surprised when he recharged his electricity early this year. “I was shocked to see 98.35 units instead of 137.28 units when I recharged with my usual N5000.
“I had to call my neighbours to verify if it happened to them as well, and to my greatest surprise, they said it did.
“This was something I recharged last year in December, but now it’s another thing. The federal government should look into this because we are in a difficult time and things are hard to get,” he said.
For now, electricity consumers will continue to pay the new tariffs pending the time that the NLC will reach a new agreement with the federal government on the reversal of the tariffs or a reduction in the current rate in line with the harsh economic realities in the country.
– Jan. 22, 2021 @ 18:09 GMT |
Tags: Nigerians cry out over another hike in electricity tariff
