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It is now no news that the recent increase of electricity tariff by Distribution Companies (DisCos) affects only Band A costumers, according to the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).
What this new development means for the common Nigerian particularly and the entire population generally is something quite deserving of high interest.
Implication
The new 230.9% tariff increase affects only Band A customers, which are 15% of electricity customers. Recall that NERC had said in March 2024, that the number of electricity customers using prepaid meters Nigeria rose to 5,885, 687 (5.89 million) out of 13,231,807 registered electricity customers.
15% of this figure (5.89 million) is approximately 883,000. Now, imagine 883,000 customers (or at least 50% of them) are producers. This invariably means that the electricity costs of producers would increase by 230.9%. This, of course, means that there will be an increment in the prices of goods and services from these producers will naturally go up.
The implication here is that Nigerians, amid the current biting economic hardship, will pay through their noses to survive. Meanwhile, let us not forget that as at February 2024, Nigeria’s electricity rate rose to 26.03%
Thus, things are actually getting from bad to worse and there seem to be nothing available to help Nigerians cushion the unbearable effect of pain they are going through.
Although, Lagos, Kano, and 10 other states are said to be finetuning plans to start generating power in their respective states in line with the Electricity Act 2023, while they are at it, there is anger in the land. At the moment, the PENGASSAN, CSOs, and the Nigeria Electricity Consumer Advocacy Network have slammed the federal government over the hike, regardless of the class of customers being affected.
Speaking on the sidelines of the National Executive Council meeting of the association in Abuja recently, PENGASSAN’s President, Festus Osifo, noted that the tariff hike would compound the perilous nature in Nigeria.
“Jumping from N68/kWh to N225/kWh is enormous. We think that the government should exist for the purpose of serving the people.
“Adding that to the perilous nature of the society today, the currency floatation that has put us in this mess that we are in today, and the fuel subsidy removal, I think it is quite drastic. So, we will interrogate the process and take a formal position about it.”
NLC speaks, threatens FG
On its part, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has described the hike as wicked and unpopular, adding that since the government preferred to listen to the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, it should be ready to face the consequences.
The NLC’s head of information, Benson Upah, has this to say:
“We did say earlier that this tariff hike is insensitive and unpopular. So if the government elects to continue with the hike or persists in something that is evil, I’m sure it is equally prepared for the consequences of that evil.
“The manufacturers are saying this is going to hurt businesses and make the environment more hostile, and we also said so. There is no place in the world where high power tariffs have supported manufacturing. Not even in the developed world.”