Why Nigerians Should Resist Hike In Electricity Tarrif
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission has finalized plans to increase the electricity tarrif. In the week, its vice chairman Musiliu Oseni made the shocking announcement when he was addressing pressmen in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory.
The NERC however said that the increment from N66 to as high as N225 per kilowatt would affect only consumers on Band A. They enjoy electricity for at least 20 hours per day. That particular exception would have given Nigerians a relief that they wouldn’t be affected by the decision of the commission.
After all only negligible few Nigerians enjoy averagely stable power supply. Nigerians have been paying for darkness for long. So, they wouldn’t have had to bother themselves. Yet they should resist the plan because gradually, the Bola Tinubu-led Government would include every Nigerian in the plan to hike the price.
That only those who are on Band A would face increment in tarrif is a mere smokescreen. The original plan of the federal government is to remove subsidy on electricity just as the International Monetary Fund advised it to. It wants to do away with the scheme just as it did to petroleum.
Nigerians are still grappling with the effects of subsidy removal on petroleum. Many have lost their means of living including jobs, businesses have literally collapsed and more millions of Nigerians have been thrown into poverty.
The immediate and remote impacts of the hike in tarrif of electricity would be on the masses. Companies will once again increase prices of goods, hence bringing more inflation. The end products of the company will be bought by the people who struggle to make the ends meet.
Tarrif increment will go across board. Ask, how does the NERC or the Transition Company of Nigeria,(TCN) or GenCo or the distribution companies (DisCo) come up with bands? Which areas fall within bands A to E? In fact the idea of bands is segregatory, discriminatory. Then, Nigerians need to reject and resist it.
Policies of President Bola Tinubu’s Government have been to try and see if they will work. There are no clear-cut plans to alleviate the abject poverty in the land. The government through its decisions and policies have aggravated the suffering of the people.
It’s evident that hike in tarrif of electricity often leads to worsening supply of power. It becomes more inconsistent and erratic. Nigerians would therefore need to pay more for darkness if the government finally increased the tarrif. The people should use all means to resist it.
Follow us on social media
