A group, Citizens Access to Electricity Initiatives (CATEIN), has kicked against planned increase in electricity tariff by the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).
Chairman of CATEIN, Mr. Abdul-Salam Fashola, told newsmen in Lagos on Monday that there were lots of issues to be addressed before tariff adjustment.
He said that Distribution Companies (DISCOs) did not have complete data of their consumers.
“Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) should shelve the idea of increment first and address fundamental issues in power sector.
“The investors in power sector should find a way to ensure they have proper data of their consumers.
“There are lots of consumers that are enjoying power supply without paying a single kobo into their account because they are not captured.
“Some pay regularly into their staff pocket, while many are tapping their energy to do their businesses without hindrance.
“Many consumers refused to pay monthly bill because the bill is outrageous, some owe close to N250, 000 alone and DISCOs insisted that they have to pay all.
“There are lots of injustice done by these people, a consumer travelled out of the country came back six months later, only to meet bills of N100,000 without consuming power supply, how do you expect him to pay.
“There are lots of bad or faulty transformers everywhere, overloaded cables and load shedding here and there. Some consumers in Ibafo and Mowe in Ogun State have not been connected to their system.
“Many consumers are still battling with their analogue meter, some two years after NERC has commanded DISCOs to install them with free prepaid meters,” he said.
He urged the DISCOs to address all these challenges before the idea of tariff could be raised.
“We in CATEIN say no tariff adjustment until all these fundamental issues are addressed and consumers are enjoying regular power supply nationwide.
“Put smile on the faces of your consumers before tariff adjustment because life is hard now,” he said.
Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN), the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, at a news conference in Abuja on Dec. 8, said that electricity tariff will slightly go up.
Fashola, however, said that the government would meet with the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) to ensure that consumers and investors were not cheated.