Electricity Tariff Hike Won’t Stop Discos’ Poor Performance and Wicked Ways – Gbajabimila

Malik Yahya/

Nigerian National Assembly Speaker, Hon Femi Gbajabiamila, has expressed his dismay on the proposed increment in electricity tariff without any hope of improvement in service.

He expressed his mind in a post on his twitter handle – @femigbaja.

Gbajabiamila stated: “There is no guarantee that after any electricity tariff hike the Discos will not continue with the nefarious practice of bills estimation or provide uninterrupted power supply.”

He added that the authorities should ensure that any increase in electricity tariff, if at all, “should be cost-reflective and not just a whimsical increase with no empirical basis”.

He further stated: “Also, any such increase should only be made after the proposed amendment to the law criminalizing estimated billing is signed into law. I intend to meet and discuss this sequence and other conditions with the Attorney General of the Federation and other relevant authorities.”

The Speaker had earlier called for the suspension of the proposed hike in electricity tariff, saying the increment should not be allowed until estimated billing is criminalized.

He urged the National Assembly to ensure that the proposed new electricity tariff when eventually implemented, would be cost-reflective.

In his series of tweet on Friday, the speaker also disclosed that he would meet with the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, and other ‘stakeholders’ in the power sector over the matter.

Already, Gbajabiamila had sponsored a bill seeking to make it criminal for electricity service providers to deny consumers meters or estimate their bills. It was introduced in the 8th National Assembly and revisited by the current 9th House. The bill is awaiting third reading.

Last December, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) announced the immediate review of electricity tariffs in the country from January 1. The order was issued to the 11 electricity distribution companies (DISCos).

Signed jointly by the Chairman of the Commission, Joseph Momoh, and the Commissioner for Legal, License & Compliance, Dafe Akpeneye, the order spelt out the various tariff reviews for all categories of consumers — except those consumers classified as residential (R1).

The reviews ranged from 59.7 per cent for consumers in Ikeja to 77.6 per cent in Enugu.

Under the new order, electricity consumers in Ikeja who used to pay about N13.34 per kWh since under the 2015 MYTO when the last review was carried out will from January 1 this year pay N21.80 per kWh, same as their R2 counterparts.

Their counterparts in Enugu, who used to pay about N17.42 per kWh will, under the new order, pay about N30.93 kWh from January 1.

Their R2 and R3 counterparts who paid about N19.31 and N27.11 per kWh since 2015, will now be paying N34.28 and N48.12 per kWh. Residential (R2) and R3 consumers in Ikeja, who have been paying N13.34 and N26.5 per kWh since 2015, will now be paying N21.30 and N21.80 per kWh.

Residential consumers are those categorised as those using singe phase and three-phase meters and electricity consumption of about 50 kWh in premises with flats exclusively for residential purposes.

The affected DISCos include Abuja Electricity Distribution Company, Benin Electricity Distribution Company, Enugu Electricity Distribution Company, Eko Electricity Distribution Company, Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company, Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company, Jos Electricity Distribution Company, Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company, Kano Electricity Distribution Company, Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company and Yola Electricity Distribution Company.

The federal government, in reaction, said it would continue to subsidise the gap in electricity cost to consumers pending the hike in April.

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