The Nigerian Senate has ordered the stakeholders in the power sector to immediately suspend the new electricity tariffs.
The lawmakers gave the directive at the resumption of plenary on Tuesday, after considering a motion raised by Senator Suleiman Nafiz from Bauchi State at the Upper House of the National Assembly.
The Senate had suspended plenary to allow lawmakers devote time to scrutinising the 2016 budget at the committee levels ahead of the resumption of plenary.
With the National Assembly identifying problems with the 2016 Budget such as repetition of subheads, budget padding and several errors, the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, suspended the plenary for another week to give the lawmakers additional time to work on the budget.
Before Tuesday’s suspension of plenary, the Senate directed the Ministry of Works, Power and Housing, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) and the Electricity Distribution Companies to suspend the new electricity tariffs that have seen charges raised by over 40 per cent.
The NERC had released a new electricity tariff regime in 2015 for electricity users in Nigeria.
But a widespread condemnation from organised labour and civil society organisations subsequently trailed the increase, with unions staging a protest few days ago to push their displeasure.
The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, however, explained that the increase in electricity tariff would boost investment in the power sector.
On Monday a Federal High Court, sitting in Lagos, warned the Federal Government and the Distribution Companies not to disobey subsisting court orders on electricity tariff increase.
The court also warned the government not to act in a way that showed disdain for the court in a constitutional democracy.
Presiding Justice, Mohammed Idris, gave the warning on Monday while ruling in a suit filed by a lawyer and rights activist, Toluwani Adebiyi, over the recent hike in electricity tariff.
