The House of Representatives on Thursday, July 20, 2023, moved to stop the planned electricity tariff hike by Distribution Companies (DisCos).
During plenary, the lower legislative chamber urged the National Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) not to approve any increase in electricity tariff in Nigeria.
In the adoption of a motion moved by Honourable Aliyu Sani Madaki from Kano state, he said DISCOS had recently alerted customers of a planned electricity tariff hike hinged on the Multi-Year Tariff Oder (MYTO).
Madaki noted that the circular issued by DisCos stated that from July 1, 2023, there would be an upward review of the electricity tariff influenced by fluctuating rates.
He also said under the MYTO, 2022 guidelines, the previous exchange rate of N441/$1 may be revised to approximately N750/$1 which would have an impact on the tariffs associated with electricity consumption.
The lawmakeer explained that: “under the planned hike, consumers within ‘B’ and ‘C’ with supply hours ranging from 12–16 hours per day will pay N100 per KWh, while Bands ‘A’ with 20 hours and above and ‘B’ with 16–20 hours, would experience comparatively higher tariffs, that is, for customers with a prepaid
metre, whereas, for those on post-rand (estimated) billing, a significant increment is expected to be higher.”
Expressing concern about the widespread apprehension in the country over the planned introduction of a new electricity tariff regime by DisCos, Madaki said the recent statement by the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) directing its consumers to disregard the earlier notice of the increase in the electricity tariffs hike is confusing as members of the public are confused as to what to believe.
He added that the proposed increment is an exploitation of the common citizen, which is not in line with Section 17 (2) (d) of the Constitution which states that the exploitation of human resources in any form whatsoever for reasons other than the good of community should be prevented.
The Deputy Speaker of the House, Benjamin Kalu, who also presided over the plenary, while ruling on the motion refered it to the Committee on Power (when constituted), saying it was a utility.
