Criticisms Persist Over Plan To Hike Electricity Tariff
… Experts Back Sale Of Power To Neighbouring Countries
THE shelved increase in electricity tariff in the country has continued to generate more reactions, as stakeholders, yesterday, demanded for improved service delivery in the sector, stressing that the growth of industry since privatisation has been below par.
This is as findings showed that as Nigeria is tinkering with whether to move to service reflective tariff or not, neighbouring countries are lurking around as the destination for power export, as about 4000 megawatts of electricity remained stranded in the country.
National President of Association of Public Policy Analysts ( APPA), Princewill Okorie, said it was proper that the proposed tariff regime was not implemented.
He insisted that there was no justification to increase the tariff, adding: “What is the justification for the increase? There is no transparency in the sector. Service has not improved. Collection issues still remain. There is no metre for consumers.”
He feared that increasing tariff would mean increase in estimated billing, a situation that persists despite outcry from consumers. To him, the situation of the power sector is not only pathetic, but also reveals how unorganised and porous the country has been.
“Government should take responsibility and address issues. The sector is uncoordinated and inefficient. It is not that they don’t know what to do, but the will to do that is not there,” he said. Okorie equally accused the private players in the sector of prioritising personal gain even when services were far from being satisfactory, calling on the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission ( FCCPC) to rise up against the excesses in the sector.
A consumer right advocate, Kunle Olubiyo, stated that if the sector had gone ahead with the proposed increase, electricity consumption in the country would have been segregated as viable and non- viable customers, a development he said was tactically designed to shift power availability to the rich, thereby worsening energy poverty in the country.
Olubiyo, who is the President of the Nigeria Consumer Protection Network, said though electricity is a product, the country has been running on a business model that does not provide consumers the right to choices.
Like Okorie, an energy lawyer, Madaki Ameh, did not see any justification to increase tariffs, urging the public to continue to rise up against the move, which he described as “fraudulent.” Ameh added: “There was a comprehensive review of the tariff issue and a number of town hall meetings were held across the country, where tariff increases were roundly rejected by consumers.
“At the end of that exercise, NERC issued guidelines rejecting the request of Discos to review tariffs to the so- called ‘ cost- reflective’ levels. So, what has changed between April 1 and now? What happened to all those town hall meetings? Were they just for show? What is so urgent about the tariff increase now, especially as there has been no meaningful improvement in service delivery by the Discos?”