By Osifo Godfrey
The enforcement of the new electricity tariff by 1st February 2016 as announced by the Nigerian Regulatory Commission [NERC] has drawn reaction from consumers, threatening to petition the National Assembly and the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola.
December last year, NERC had made known, a new tariff regime is promoting a raised in the amounts payable for units of electricity by different categories of consumers by over 45 per cent and recently insisted that the new rates would be enforced from next month.
The consumers, under the umbrella of the Nigerian Electricity Consumer Advocacy Network [NECAN], has urged the government and the National Assembly not to allow the electricity distribution companies to implement the increase in tariffs.
The Chairman, NECAN, Mr. Tomy Akingbogun, said that the body had met with the heads of various consumer advocacy groups in states across the country and the demand of power consumers was unanimous.
He said, “We have our own argument and we believe that the information given by the Discos as to why tariffs should be increased is one-sided. NERC did not present our own investigation and views to the companies, for we made explanations of our findings to the commission but it never gave us a copy of the communiqué of the meetings it had with the power firms.
“By so doing, it means that something is wrong, because we are supposed to have a copy of the communiqué of every meeting, but they never gave us. The communiqué I’m talking about is the one issued at the end of the public enlightenment information meetings and consultations that they are supposed to have before any increment.” He said.