NIGERIANS BEMOAN HIGH ELECTRICITY CHARGES NIGERIANS may have to wait longer for the succour promised by the Federal Government’s on-going privatisation of the nation’s power sector. Investigations revealed that Nigerians are not only unhappy with the alleged “significant drop” in electricity supply, but feel “defrauded” as they are being made to “pay exorbitantly for electricity that is never supplied.” One fundamental question Nigerians are asking is: Why should FG, through its agencies like the Power Holding Company of Nigeria and Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), increase electricity tariff by 100 per cent or more when supply has not improved? Aside from ensuring that the quality of service delivered to the helpless public remains perpetually poor, one other thing Nigerian electricity providers have perfected over the years is the habit of foisting on consumers regular and unjustifiable tariff increases. The latest increase has taken the form of what has been described as “fixed charge.” This new tariff makes it mandatory for electricity consumers to pay between N700 and N800 monthly – up from N500 – regardless of whether the consumer makes use of electricity for the period or not. Unfortunately for longsuffering Nigerians, help does not seem to be forthcoming from anywhere, as the National Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) boss, Sam Amadi, has already given his blessing to the increase. In his candid opinion, “the tariff must increase despite shortfalls in service delivery.” Dr Sam Amadi, at a briefing last week, insisted that the new electricity charges were justified under the Multi Year Tariff Order (MYTO). While defending FG’s position on the charges, the NERC boss said Nigerians had been educated about the ongoing approved payment arrangement under MYTO, which would run till 2016. The MYTO, which was prepared by NERC showed that there would be increases in electricity tariff every year till 2016. The tariff schedule showed that consumers would have to pay higher on two fronts. One, the fixed cost will go up every year. The energy cost or cost per kilowatt-hour of electricity will also increase. In defence of the customers, NLC had accused NERC of aiding and abetting the exploitation of many Nigerians by charging them higher tariff when electricity supply remains erratic. The labour union said NERC was part of the challenges hindering the successful transformation of the nation’s power sector, through its inconsistent and contradictory regulatory policies. Justifying the fixed charge component in the tariff, Amadi explained that the fixed charge is a component of electricity tariff all over the world and is charged to recover some of the capital costs for producing and supplying electricity. Reacting on the issue, Nigerians however argued that there has never been any subsidy for electricity tariff by either the government or NERC. Rather, they accused NERC of charging consumers, including low consumers exorbitantly for service not rendered. For instance, Mr Ibrahim Bello, a Landlord at Ikotun, Lagos said his street, which is under Ikotun Business District of PHCN, does not enjoy stable supply as it comes at a two-to-one day interval. “Why should government engage in daylight robbery of the people, all in the name of transforming the power sector? Why should government agencies subject us to paying through our noses for services not rendered?” Bello, a retired journalist asks. Bello’s grievance is shared by many other respondents. The duo of Mr Ganiyu Salaudeen and Baba Idris said their street have been in blackout for weeks. “We hardly get five-hour electricity supply in a week. Yet, they distribute some crazy bill. That is fraud and totally unfair to us.” Baba Idris said a bill of N90, 000 has been served on his house consisting of two one-bedroom apartments and a main 3-bedroom apartment. Speaking in an interview, Ikotun Business District of PHCN’s Senior Manager, Public Affairs, Mrs Esther Akinode said nobody should chastise PHCN on electricity tariff, saying the National Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) was responsible for the obligation.
Posted on: Sat, 27 Jul 2013 10:25:10 +0000
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