The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and some civil society organisations (CSOs) have kicked against the new hike in electricity tariff in the country.
Those who spoke to Daily Trust yesterday said all the reasons given by government officials on the increase were not tenable, saying even in advanced societies, citizens enjoy subsidies on some basic necessities like fuel and electricity.
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) Wednesday announced a tariff increment from N68 kilowatt hour (kwh) to N225 kwh.
The commission said the increment was made following consultations with the 11 electricity distribution companies (Discos) as well as the inability of the federal government to pay over N2.9 trillion that would accrue by the end of 2024 as electricity subsidy for failure to enable cost reflective tariff.
With this tariff hike, consumers under the Band A feeders and enjoying an average of 20 hours of power supply daily will pay about N135, 000 monthly.
At a press conference in Abuja, NERC’s Vice Chairman, Musiliu Oseni, said the increase would affect only 15 per cent of the 12 million electricity consumers.
He said the commission had downgraded some customers on the Band A to Band B and C due to the non-fulfilment of the required hours of electricity provided by the electricity distribution companies.
Oseni said the review would not affect customers on the other bands, which vary from B to E.
Punch
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