Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, has called for an out-of-court settlement in the legal dispute between All Electricity Consumers Protection Forum (AECPF) and Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) over alleged illegal tariff increases of Band A customers and failure to follow the extant laws and procedures for such increase to be valid.
Following NERC’s April 3, 2024 announcement of the increase in Band A tariff to N225/kWh, the forum wrote to NERC, declaring its dissatisfaction and threatened to seek legal recourse, if the increase was not reversed within 72 hours.
The group followed through on its promise by having its incorporated trustees sue the commission at the Federal High Court in Ibadan, Oyo State. The case was first mentioned in May 2024 before Justice Agomah in Court 1 and was adjourned for its first hearing till July 1.
The appeal from the minister was made at the BusinessDay conference in Lagos, where he addressed various issues affecting the sector and the government’s efforts to tackle them. He justified the increase in tariffs by emphasising that the increase in tariff for Band A became necessary to sustain the sector from collapse. He cited the challenges facing the sector and the measures being implemented to address them.
While the National Coordinator of AECPF, Adeola Samuel-Ilori, challenged the minister over his various submissions on the issues from metering gap figure to the liability of Distribution Companies (DisCos) in providing meters and other line materials like transformers, pointing out that the sector still placed the burden on consumers, contrary to regulatory standards and extant law provisions.
Samuel-Ilori, however, stated that he would not dwell on the issue of tariff increases, as it had become a legal tussle between his forum and the commission, over which the minister remains the supervisory head, in the court of law.
Responding, Adelabu appealed to the plaintiff in the case, represented by the national coordinator, to consider settling out of court to avoid jeopardising the progress made through the introduction of the Band A increase.
He expressed concern that if the court overturns the increase, it could adversely affect the sector and potentially lead to the collapse of DisCos, as the government could no longer subsidise the tariff.
But Samuel-Ilori stated that the minister should allow the court to decide the outcome of the case. He emphasised that the case was not brought in bad faith, but to determine the position of the law.
