Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has faulted the recent increase in electricity tariff in the country, saying it is “ill-timed and ill-advised.”
According to Atiku who was the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate in the 2019 election, Nigerians are just coming out of the lockdown imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and should be given stimulus, not an increase in electricity tariff.
“I reject the increased electricity tariffs. Coming out of the lockdown, Nigerians need a stimulus, not an impetuous disregard for the challenges they face,” he tweeted on his handle on Thursday.
“Many Nigerians have not earned an income for months, due to no fault of theirs. This increase is ill-timed and ill-advised.”
I reject the increased electricity tariffs. Coming out of the lockdown, Nigerians need a stimulus, not an impetuous disregard for the challenges they face. Many Nigerians have not earned an income for months, due to no fault of theirs. This increase is ill-timed and ill-advised.
— Atiku Abubakar (@atiku) September 3, 2020
On Tuesday, September 1st, 2020, the new electricity tariff approved by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) came into force.
This followed the approval of the implementation of the proposed cost-reflective energy tariff by President Muhammadu Buhari for the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI).
According to the new tariff, some residential areas tagged as “poor” and customers on estimated billing, will not be affected as President Buhari has ordered mass metering of consumers nationwide.
“Under these service-based principles DISCOs will only be able to review tariff rates for customers when they consult with customers, commit to increasing the number of hours of supply per day and quality of service,” the commission noted.
What you need to know about Service-Based Tariff pic.twitter.com/Ejd0zwvHYx
— NERC Nigeria (@NERCNG) August 27, 2020
The new tariff, the NERC said, will be reviewed every quarter and the body had told electricity distribution companies (DisCos) to maintain the life-line tariff of N4 for customers consuming less than 50kWh of energy monthly.
