Electricity tariff hike: It’s daylight robbery, labour, others tell Nigerian Government

Organised labour, industrialists and  civil rights groups on Sunday condemned the hike in electricity tariffs by the Federal Government.

Labour, in an interview with Punch, described the electricity tariff hike as a daylight robbery considering the epileptic power supply in the country.

The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, on its part,  berated the  Federal Government for increasing the tariffs and doing nothing  about estimated billing by distribution companies.

While MAN, Rivers/Bayelsa states branch,   described the increase in electricity tariffs as insensitive to the economic realities in the country, the Kaduna State Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture said it was counter-productive.

They said the electricity distribution companies were collecting money for the services they were not providing.

The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, had on Saturday directed the 11 electricity distribution companies in the country to increase their tariffs beginning from April.

An analysis of the latest NERC directive  shows that the Federal Government’s agency has actually   increased tariffs payable by all the major classes of power consumers.

One of our correspondents observed that tariffs   for   the three major categories of consumers  in Ikeja, Ibadan, Kano and Port Harcourt distribution companies were  jerked up.

Residential customers in the R3 category under Ikeja Disco, who currently pay N26.5/kWh, will start paying N36.49/kWh beginning from April, indicating an increase of N9.99.

Commercial customers in the C3 category under this Disco, who currently pay N24.63/kWh, will start paying N38.41/kWh, representing a hike of N13.78.

Industrial customers in the D3 category served by Ikeja Disco, who pay N25.82/kWh currently, will start paying N38.85/kWh, representing an increase of N13.03.

Residential customers of Ibadan, Kano and Port Harcourt Discos, who currently pay N29.17/kWh, N24.43/kWh and N27.49/kWh, will from April start  paying  N44.66/kWh, N42.63/kWh and N48.39/kWh, respectively.

The increases in their respectively tariffs include N15.49, N18.2 and N20.9.

– Punch