Nigerian electricity consumers got temporary relief Monday when the leadership of the nation’s Senate and House of Representatives intervened to halt the planned hike in electricity tariffs which was planned to commence on July 1 in spite of protests.
The decision to stop the commencement of a new tariff regime was reached at following dialogue between the leadership of the two chambers of the national assembly and the Distribution Companies (DISCOs).
The peace was brokered at a meeting that the President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila and other principal officers of the two chambers of the national assembly held with the Chief Executives of the Government electricity regulatory body and DISCOs across the country.
It was agreed that the new tariff would commence in the first quarter of 2021 after some other pending matters must have been tidied up.
Others that attended the meeting include the Chairmen of the Committees on Power from the Senate and House of Representatives.
The lawmakers insisted that the timing of the planned hike was inappropriate even though they did not take issue with the need to introduce cost-reflective tariffs for the power sector to attract much-needed investments, a position that the DISCOs admitted, adding that they were not well prepared for the planned hike in tariffs even though they desire the increase.
They also agreed to defer the planned hike until the first quarter of 2021, while the leadership of the National Assembly promised to meet with President Muhammadu Buhari on the issue.
‘The agreement here is that there is not going to be any increase in the tariffs on July 1st,’ Lawan said at the end of the meeting.
‘The Speaker and I, we are going to take appropriate action and meet with the President.
‘We are in agreement here that there is no question on the justification of the increase but the time is simply not right and appropriate measures need to be put in place
‘So, between now and the first quarter of next year, our task will be to work together with you to ensure that we put those blocks in place to support the eventual increase in tariffs,’ Lawan said.
The senate President said the government has been doing a lot as part of its obligations to provide some form of Intervention.
‘I’m quite aware that for this year, probably starting from last year, over N600 billion was earmarked for this sector to improve.
‘The potential increase in the tariffs is definitely something that will be of concern to us in the National Assembly.
‘There is too much stress in the lives of Nigerians today and indeed across the world because of the challenges imposed by COVID-19 pandemic and even before then, we had issues that would always make it tough for our people to effectively pay the tariffs.
‘One way or the other, for this business to flourish, for this sector to be appropriately fixed, for it to attract investment, something has to give way, there is no doubt about that but it is also crucial that we look at the timing for any of our actions,’ Lawan said.
Also speaking, Gbajabiamila said the National Assembly is on the same page with the DISCOs on the issue of cost-reflective tariffs.
He said- ‘There is time for everything. A well-intended programme or policy of government can fall flat on the face and never recover if you do it at a wrong time. I think we all agree to that.
‘There cannot be a time as bad as this for us to increase anything. Forget about electricity, anything. Whereas, even in times of decreasing revenue, we are even reducing the pump price. I don’t know how we can justify an increase in the cost of electricity at this time in Nigeria.
‘The good thing is that we have agreed that we need to do something about the cost.
‘Whatever will affect his government is something that should concern all of us. I think this will affect his government. This timing. Not the increase. The timing. I think it will affect his government and if it is going to affect his government, we should all rally around our people, our president and the government to make sure we do the right thing,’ Gbajabiamila said.
According to the representatives of the DISCOs, if the planned hike is eventually deferred till next year, the government should continue to bear the difference in the present tariff and what was considered as the appropriate tariff.
Others that attended the meeting were the representatives of NERC, Kano Electricity Distribution Company, Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company, Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company and Eko Electricity Distribution Company.
