Why Tinubu’s Govt Increased Electricity Tariff by 300%, NERC Explains
- Mixed reactions have continued to trail the increment in the electricity tariff by 300% for band A customers
- The leadership of the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) explained that there was an urgent need to review electricity tariffs so as to improve the quality of supply
- In a recent interview, the vice president, Musiliu Oseni, disclosed that the major reason for the increment is so DisCos would be able to maintain their machine and also pay for gas
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Legit.ng journalist Esther Odili has over two years of experience covering political parties and movements.
FCT, Abuja - President Bola Ahmed Tinubu's led federal government through the vice president of the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Musiliu Oseni, has explained the reasons behind the increase in electricity tariff for Band A customers.
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The increase, which was announced by NERC on Wednesday, will see customers pay ₦225 kilowatts per hour, up from the current ₦66.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Wednesday, Oseni explained that the Commission is empowered by its Act to ensure that the licenses operating efficiently are allowed to recover sufficient revenue for the capital invested, for the operational cost as well as having a return for the investment they have made.
He, however, noted that the increase is to enable "DisCos to pay for gas and maintain machines".
Oseni stated further that the development will also stop the further collapse of the national grip, noting the increment will enable DisCos improve electricity supply.
The NERC VP stated thus:
“What informed the decision actually apart from the position of the Act is in the sense that if you look at December 2023 there was an improvement to the quality of service to January but from January up to date, there was a dip in generation availability.
“What caused that was because there was no review of tariff. The DisCos cannot be mandated to pay for what they have not been allowed to charge and in that case, the payment to generation companies has significantly dipped which affects their ability to maintain their machine and also to pay for gas.
“And if they are not able to pay for gas definitely, they won’t be able to generate not minding the fact that they also need money to maintain their machines.
“So, we are at a point where it is clearly that if nothing is done to ensure that tariff is reviewed so that the market can be relatively liquid the quality of supply won’t improve.”
Major electricity cable supply catches fire
Legit.ng earlier reported a fire outbreak at the Dan'agundi Transmission Station, a major electricity supply chain in Kano.
It was learnt that the fire had caused major damage to the advanced capacity transformers.
Kano is one of the relatively safe states in northern Nigeria; it has experienced little or no terror attacks.
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