Nigeria’s upper legislative chamber has opposed plans by the Ministry of Power to increase electricity tariffs and remove subsidies for consumers.
The Senate also directed its committee on power to investigate the N2tn required for electricity subsidy payment, other debts owed in the sector, and the state of metering in the country.
The resolution of the Senate followed its consideration and approval of a motion moved by Senator Aminu Abbas (PDP, Adamawa Central) during plenary on Thursday.
Unsustainable Subsidy
According to the motion, the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, had disclosed at a press conference in Abuja last week that Nigeria was not likely to sustain the current electricity subsidy payment.
He explained that the indebtedness of the country’s power sector to electricity-generating companies (GenCos) and gas companies (GasCos) had risen to over N3tn.
He said, “Today, we owe a total of N1.3tn to the power generating companies, out of which 60 per cent is owed to gas suppliers. Today we have a legacy debt, before 2014, to the gas companies of $1.3bn; at today’s rate, that is close to N2tn.”
The minister also said that over N2tn was needed for subsidy, but only N450 billion was budgeted this year.
Consumer Rights
Senator Abbas argued that the plan to increase electricity tariff by the relevant statutory authority was in gross disregard of the increased economic challenges with attendant widespread poverty and high cost of living.
He said that the issue of arbitrary energy charges on unmetered customers had become worrisome given the February 2024 report of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) on the non-compliance with energy billing caps by DisCos and the penalty of N10.5bn imposed on the distribution companies that over-billed its unmetered customers.
He also noted that the president had ordered the NERC to commence mass pre-paid metering to end estimated billing in 2020, and that funds were released for that purpose.
However, he lamented that the multiple sanctions declared by NERC against DisCos for failing to comply with the scrapping of estimated bills for unmetered customers seemed to have been in futility given the continued violations by DisCos.
Public Interest
The senators who contributed to the debate on the motion unanimously kicked against the proposed tariff hike and subsidy removal, saying it would add to the woes of Nigerians.
They also called for the protection of consumer rights and the improvement of power supply in the country.
The Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, said that the Senate would always stand for the public interest and urged the power committee to expedite action on the investigation.
He also expressed hope that the power sector would be reformed to deliver quality and affordable service to Nigerians.
Source: Punch
