Consumers of electricity have expressed disgust at the hike in tariff for a section of consumers.
They expressed fears that, although the tariff increase is limited to those categorised as Band A consumers, it could within a short period spread to the others despite lingering power outages.
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) announced a 300 per cent hike in tariff paid by Band A consumers with immediate effect.
The Band A consumers are those who, according to NERC, enjoy electricity supply for a minimum of 20 hours per day. They are now to pay N225/kwh from N66.
Trade Union Congress (TUC), All Electricity Consumers’ Protection Forum (AECPF), and the Association for Public Policy Analysts (APPA) faulted the move in interviews with our correspondents.
They described it as insensitive, but NERC defended the action on the basis that the majority (85 per cent) of electricity consumers are not affected.
TUC Deputy President, Tommy Okon, said the increment was unacceptable and a recipe for individual unrest.
Okon said: “This shows clearly that Nigeria is not ready for 24-hour electricity supply.
“As we speak, you cannot point anywhere in the country that people are enjoying 20 hours of electricity supply, not even at the airport where it is expected for economic reasons.”
APPA National President, Princewill Okorie, regretted that the NERC has shown that it is always interested in raising tariffs without monitoring and making the DisCos keep to their Performance Improvement Plan.
