Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola
Members of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) and other consumers of electricity in the country have rejected a sudden proposal by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) to review power charges on a monthly basis.
The manufacturers stood their ground that status quo must remain which is biannual review as provided by NERC regulations.
Apart from MAN, the Nigerian Electricity Consumers Advocacy Network (NECAN) and the Hotel Owners Forum Abuja (HOFA), jointly averred that any increase in the tariff would adversely affect consumers. Similarly, MAN said that a more frequent review of tariff in the electricity industry would harm the manufacturing sector and tumble the economy back to recession.
The stakeholders was quick to observe that the last tariff review resulted in 95 per cent increase in charges, and urged the Federal Government to protect consumers’ interest in the electricity industry.
The NECAN Chairman, Mr. Tomi Akingbogun, called on NERC to ensure that all electricity consumers were metered before considering any tariff review.
According to HOFA, president, Chief Eze Ude, “Since hoteliers did not review their rates on a monthly basis, it was not rational to expect them to pay different electricity tariffs every month”.
Though the Association of Nigeria Electricity Distributors (ANED) argued that the monthly review of tariffs was a global practice, the Executive Secretary, Association of Power Generating Companies (APGC), Dr. Joy Ogaji, urged NERC to factor in about 2,000 megawatts of electricity, which she claimed was stranded within the Gencos and paid for by the firms.
Consensus was not however reached leading to the rescheduling of the meeting for stakeholders to make further consultations on the tariff review issue.
