Electricity Tariff: We Will Meet In Court If, NBA Ikeja To FG
Except the Federal Government reverse the recently increase in tariff for electricity, the Ikeja branch of Nigerian Bar Association (NBA Ikeja) has threatened a court action.
Already, the lawyers have given the government a 7-days ultimatum to file an action in court if the tariff is not reversed.
The ultimatum from the Lawyers is coming, few days after the Federal House of Representatives condemned the hike, calling on government to stop the planned increase.
Speaking at a world press conference in Ikeja, Lagos, the branch Chairman, Mr Seyi Olawunmi said that the National Electricity Regulation Commission (NERC) order made in respect of the electricity tariff hike is anti-people, noted that the tariff smacks of the policy of a government that has lost touch with the daily realities of its average citizen.
He noted that the position of NBA Ikeja branch is that, ”if the government and concerned individuals fail to reverse the illegal hike of electricity tariffs within seven days, the branch will be left with no choice than to seek appropriate remedies in the court of law.”
Olawunmi recalled that in December, 2023, NERC issued a new Multi-Year Tariff Order (MYTO 2024) which indicated a purported cost-reflective tariff chargeable by the various Electricity Distribution Companies (Discos).
He said that a large chunk of the increased tariff was however reportedly absorbed by the Federal Government under a subsidy arrangement.
The branch Chairman said that the purported subsidy has now reportedly been removed by the Federal Government, leading to an over 300% increase in the electricity tariff payable by the end-user, the Nigerians under a curious band-derivative tariff charging model.
According to him, “We view this sudden astronomical increase in the end-user tariff, irrespective of the technical arguments preferred in justification, as utterly exploitative and non-reflective of the current economic hardship that the masses of Nigerians are going through.”
NBA said that the inflation and the depreciation of the Naira to the dollar has affected their services and that it is practically impossible to remain on the old tariff. Added the electricity in Nigeria is not well priced
The NBA therefore demand, “immediate stop to the illegal implementation of the 225 Naira per kWh imposed on their so called band A customers at the discretion of both the Discos and NERC without any empirical basis.
“The classification into band A or B or C or D or E should be scrapped. It’s either the Discos are guaranteeing 24 hours supply for all or they are not. The government and the Nigerian people cannot continue to subsidize their inefficiency in the name of band A or B or C etc.”
They said, if the government fail to reverse the illegal hike within seven days, they will seek appropriate remedies in the court of law.
