Service poor despite push for electricity tariff hike, says APPA

The National President of the Association for Public Policy Analysis (APPA-Nigeria), Princewill Okorie, said the attention of the players in the Nigerian electricity sector should be on improving the quality of service in the market, not on tariff hikes.

The recent disclosure that the Federal Government cannot continue subsidising electricity prompted APPA’s reaction; the association argued that the sector faces challenges such as arbitrary billing, metering and network expansion violations.

“The problem with the power sector has been that the ministry as the policy-making organ often relies only on advice from departments and agencies of the ministry without hearing from a wide spectrum of consumers and stakeholders. This has continued to encourage the shielding of corrupt practices bedeviling the power sector.

“On debts, the Minister of Power should transparently explain to Nigerians how the funds injected into the sector by international organisations, donor agencies and development partners are being utilised. It is possible that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) loan to DisCos for meters, which most consumers never benefited from, is part of the debts being talked about,” Okorie said.

Regarding the suggestion that states generate electricity for themselves, the association called for transparency on the benefits to states who hold 40 per cent of the shares of the DisCos since privatisation.