President Bola Ahmed Tinubu kept silent as the recent 240 per cent electricity tariff hike worsens the suffering being faced by Nigerians.
The recent electricity tariff increase for customers has birthed another page of hardship for Nigerians.
While the residues of pain caused by the removal of subsidy and the Naira floating policies implemented by Tinubu’s Government last year still lingers, the hike in electricity tariff for customers under Band A, getting at least 20 hours of power supply, has further unsettled Nigerians.
In defence of the hike, the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, noted last Friday that 85 per cent of electricity will not be affected.
He added that the Government would save N1.14 trillion in electricity subsidies.
Despite Adelabu’s position, the Nigeria Labour Congress, Trade Union Congress, Lagos Chambers of Commerce and Industry, and Abuja Chambers of Commerce and Industry have all openly condemned the new electricity tariff hike.
They all agreed there is a cloud of confusion around the tariff implementation amid economic hardship.
Upon the new tariff announcement by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission Tuesday last week, the eleven Discos began implementing the N255 kilowatt-hours rate for customers getting 20 hours.
However, the implementation has attracted widespread dissatisfaction among electricity consumers.
Abuja Electricity Distribution Company apologized to consumers for wrongly applying new tariff hikes on B, C, D, and E customers, who were categorized as getting 16 hours of power supply.
Consequently, Abuja Disco was slammed with a fine of N200 million by NERC over the wrong billing of customers. The Commission also ordered the Disco to refund affected customers with energy tokens before 11 April, 2024.
