Reps, NBA, Falana, HURIWA seek reversal of electricity tariff hike

House of Representatives, Ikeja Branch of the Nigerian Bar Association of Nigeria (NBA), rights activist, Femi Falana (SAN) and Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) have condemned the recent energy hike by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).

Ordering immediate suspension of the policy at plenary after a motion sponsored by Kama Nkemkanma yesterday in Abuja, the lower legislative chamber noted that the 230 per cent increment from ₦66 per kilowatt hour to ₦225/kWh for Band A customers would further distress Nigerians.

The NBA branch chairman, Seyi Olawunmi, while addressing newsmen in Lagos, said the body had concluded a lawsuit over the hike, giving the Federal Government a seven-day ultimatum to rescind the decision.

He labelled the policy as anti-people, noting that the tariff smacks of a government that has lost touch with the daily realities of its average citizen.

The lawyer stressed that the position of the NBA Ikeja branch is that, “if the government and concerned individuals fail to reverse the illegal hike of electricity tariff within seven days, the branch will be left with no choice than to seek appropriate remedies in the court of law.”

Olawunmi recalled that in December 2023, NERC issued a new Multi-Year Tariff Order (MYTO 2024), which indicated a ‘purported’ cost-reflective tariff chargeable by the various electricity distribution companies (Discos).

He said a chunk of the increased tariff was, however, reportedly absorbed by the Federal Government under a subsidy arrangement.

In his remarks, Falana passed a vote of ‘no confidence’ on the Federal Government, describing the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, as failing Nigerians.

He claimed that the move is a policy imposed on the Nigerian government by the International Monetary Fund and World Bank.

On a live programme, Falana stated: “The Minister of Power, Mr. Adebayo Adelabu, has failed to address the question of the illegality of the tariffs.

“Section 116 of the Electricity Act 2023 provides that before an increase can be approved and announced, there has to be a public hearing conducted based on the request of the DisCos to have an increase in the electricity tariffs. That was not done.

“Secondly, neither the minister nor the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission has explained why the impunity that characterised the increase can be allowed.”

The senior lawyer also expressed worry over what he described as impunity on the part of the Federal Government and the electricity regulatory commission.

IN a statement by its National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, HURIWA described the decision as wicked, insensitive and callous.

The group termed the minister’s remarks of Nigerians being in darkness for three months except they accept the hike as a “political blackmail laced with toxicity, and capable of destabilising the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration.”

It regarded the statement as an act of active political sabotage against constitutional democracy, asking the President to sack the minister.

The minister gave the warning in Abuja when he appeared before the Senate Committee on Power at an investigative hearing over the recent electricity tariff hike on Monday.

He said $10 billion was needed yearly for the next 10 years to revive the nation’s power sector and nip in the bud the challenges bedevilling it.

Reacting, HURIWA said only a very insensitive public office holder will be canvassing for an upward review of service charges in the contemporary Nigerian epoch when the extremely suffocating costs of living are driving many Nigerians to their early graves.

It stated: “This minister must know that a man, who is already impoverished by the wicked policies of the government, fears no fall, and will fight by all means to remain alive, and this may induce mass anger and revolts on a very wider scale.”