Rescind Decision On June Tariff Hike, Reps Urge NERC

The House of Representatives has urged the Nigerian Electricity
Regulatory Commission (NERC) to rescind its decision to further
increase the electricity tariff in June. The call was sequel to a
unanimous adoption of a motion by Rep.

Aniekan Umanah (PDP-Akwa Ibom) at plenary on Thursday. Moving
the motion, Umanah said that it was important to suspend the
planned increase in view of the current harsh economic situation in
Nigeria.

He said that NERC was established by the Electric Power Sector
Act of 2005, with a mandate to license Distribution Companies
(DISCOs).

The rep said that the commission was to determine operating
codes and standards, establish customer rights and obligations, and
set cost-reflective industry tariff. Umanah said that NERC, working
with Distribution Companies, had increased electricity tariffs five
times since 2015 saying that the latest being on Jan. 1.

According to him, in spite of the increase, Nigerians have not
enjoyed significant improvement in power supply; instead, they are
daily grappled with epileptic services from the DISCOs.

He said Nigerians had suffered unilateral exploitation in the
name of estimated billing arising from non-metering of over 50 per
cent of consumers. “Poor services by the DISCOs have impacted
negatively on the socio-economic growth of the country as the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) Report of 2020 on Nigeria
indicated that the manufacturing sector lost over 200 billion
dollars to inadequate power supply while a whopping 21billion
dollars was said to have been spent by Nigerians on power
generation sets within the period under review.

“The Nigerian masses have gone through so much hardship in
recent times arising from acts of terrorism, banditry, kidnappings,
farmers and herdsmen’s crisis with its toll on agricultural
activities, displacement from ancestral homes, loss of loved ones,
starvation arising from an inability to return to daily occupation
and loss of personal properties running into several millions of
naira.

“Governments all over the world are adopting measures to cushion
the devastating effects of COVID–19 pandemic on their citizens by
providing a wide range of palliatives to those who suffered general
distortion in the social life.

“NERC is tinkering with the idea of a further increase in
electricity tariff after that of Jan. 1, in a country where 2/3 of
the 200 million population is grappling with the crippling effects
of the pandemic.

“The purchasing power of an average Nigerian has drastically
reduced, any further hike in electricity tariff at this time will
amount to overkill, lack of empathy, and height of insensitivity,’’
he said.

The house mandated its Committees on Power, Poverty Alleviation
and Labour, Employment, and Productivity to ensure compliance. In a
related development, the House adopted a motion and mandated the
House Committee on Power to investigate the alleged transfer of
debts incurred by old electricity consumers to new users by
DISCOs.

Moving a motion, Rep. Shoyinka Olatunji said that there were
constant complaints by electricity consumers on the poor services
by DISCOs.

He said that consumers have also alleged that DISCOs were in the
habit of transferring outstanding debts of the old customers to new
users of residential buildings. T

he rep said that the companies which were responsible for the
collection of payments for services rendered to consumers, allow
unpaid bills to accumulate. “Concerned that if nothing is done to
curb the act of transferring debts incurred by other consumers to
new consumers, the latter will continue to bear the burden of
paying for the electricity they did not consume,’’ he said.

In his ruling, the Deputy Speaker of the house, Rep Ahmed Wase
directed the committee to engage the DISCOs and NERC with a view to
finding a lasting solution. Wase also mandated the committee to
report back within two weeks for further legislative actions
NAN

The House of Representatives has urged the Nigerian Electricity
Regulatory Commission (NERC) to rescind its decision to further
increase the electricity tariff in June. The call was sequel to a
unanimous adoption of a motion by Rep.

Aniekan Umanah (PDP-Akwa Ibom) at plenary on Thursday. Moving
the motion, Umanah said that it was important to suspend the
planned increase in view of the current harsh economic situation in
Nigeria.

He said that NERC was established by the Electric Power Sector
Act of 2005, with a mandate to license Distribution Companies
(DISCOs).

The rep said that the commission was to determine operating
codes and standards, establish customer rights and obligations, and
set cost-reflective industry tariff. Umanah said that NERC, working
with Distribution Companies, had increased electricity tariffs five
times since 2015 saying that the latest being on Jan. 1.

According to him, in spite of the increase, Nigerians have not
enjoyed significant improvement in power supply; instead, they are
daily grappled with epileptic services from the DISCOs.

He said Nigerians had suffered unilateral exploitation in the
name of estimated billing arising from non-metering of over 50 per
cent of consumers. “Poor services by the DISCOs have impacted
negatively on the socio-economic growth of the country as the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) Report of 2020 on Nigeria
indicated that the manufacturing sector lost over 200 billion
dollars to inadequate power supply while a whopping 21billion
dollars was said to have been spent by Nigerians on power
generation sets within the period under review.

“The Nigerian masses have gone through so much hardship in
recent times arising from acts of terrorism, banditry, kidnappings,
farmers and herdsmen’s crisis with its toll on agricultural
activities, displacement from ancestral homes, loss of loved ones,
starvation arising from an inability to return to daily occupation
and loss of personal properties running into several millions of
naira.

“Governments all over the world are adopting measures to cushion
the devastating effects of COVID–19 pandemic on their citizens by
providing a wide range of palliatives to those who suffered general
distortion in the social life.

“NERC is tinkering with the idea of a further increase in
electricity tariff after that of Jan. 1, in a country where 2/3 of
the 200 million population is grappling with the crippling effects
of the pandemic.

“The purchasing power of an average Nigerian has drastically
reduced, any further hike in electricity tariff at this time will
amount to overkill, lack of empathy, and height of insensitivity,’’
he said.

The house mandated its Committees on Power, Poverty Alleviation
and Labour, Employment, and Productivity to ensure compliance. In a
related development, the House adopted a motion and mandated the
House Committee on Power to investigate the alleged transfer of
debts incurred by old electricity consumers to new users by
DISCOs.

Moving a motion, Rep. Shoyinka Olatunji said that there were
constant complaints by electricity consumers on the poor services
by DISCOs.

He said that consumers have also alleged that DISCOs were in the
habit of transferring outstanding debts of the old customers to new
users of residential buildings. T

he rep said that the companies which were responsible for the
collection of payments for services rendered to consumers, allow
unpaid bills to accumulate. “Concerned that if nothing is done to
curb the act of transferring debts incurred by other consumers to
new consumers, the latter will continue to bear the burden of
paying for the electricity they did not consume,’’ he said.

In his ruling, the Deputy Speaker of the house, Rep Ahmed Wase
directed the committee to engage the DISCOs and NERC with a view to
finding a lasting solution. Wase also mandated the committee to
report back within two weeks for further legislative actions
NAN