The Federal Government on Sunday faulted the organised labour’s opposition to the electricity tariff hike and the removal of the subsidy in the sector.
The spokesperson for the Ministry of Power, Florence Eke, who disclosed this in an interview in Abuja, said the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu’s justification of the electricity tariff hike at the Senate public hearing on Monday last week was still valid.
She said the government was “not toeing the path of trade unions’’ on the issue of electricity tariff.
According to her, the burden of the electricity subsidy was too much for the government to bear and it was not sustainable.
Eke stated this against the background of the two-week ultimatum issued by organised labour demanding the reversal of the increase in the electricity tariff.
But the Trade Union Congress on Sunday insisted on the two-week ultimatum it gave to the Federal Government to reverse the tariff.
Also, the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Joe Ajaero, faulted the tariff hike.
According to him, the government cannot fix tariffs in a sector that is already deregulated.
The Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission announced the hike in the electricity tariff for Band A customers at a press briefing in Abuja, on April 3, revealing that those affected would pay N225 per kilowatt-hour, up from the previous rate of N68/kWh, representing about 240 per cent increase.
Subsidy on electricity was withdrawn completely from the tariff of customers in the Band A category, who constituted about 15 per cent of the total 12.82 million power consumers across the country.
Based on the tariff hike, the Federal Government said it would save N1.5tn.
The government stated that the decision took effect on April 3, 2024, adding that Band A customers would enjoy up to 20 hours of power supply daily.
Labour kicks
However, the House of Representatives, organised labour and the Nigerian Bar Association kicked against the hike in tariff payable by about 1.9 million consumers.
The House called on the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission to suspend forthwith the implementation of the new electricity tariff nationwide.
But justifying the increase during an investigative hearing held by the Senate Committee on Power last Monday, the power minister explained that there would be a nationwide blackout in the next three months if the increase in electricity tariff was not implemented.
This came after the Senate Committee, chaired by Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, rejected the proposed tariff regime.
“The entire sector will be grounded if we don’t increase the tariff. With what we have now in the next three months, the entire country will be in darkness if we don’t increase tariffs.
“The increment will catapult us to the next level. We are also Nigerians. We are also feeling the impact,’’ Adelabu asserted
However, the NLC and TUC asked the NERC and the power sector operators to reverse the increase in electricity tariff within a week even as they expressed dissatisfaction with the epileptic power situation in the country, saying that it is affecting economic growth.
Speaking at the International Workers Day celebration in Abuja on May 1, the NLC President, Ajaero and his TUC counterpart, Festus Osifo, said, “It is unethical to force Nigerians to pay higher tariffs for non-existent electricity. Estimated billing is an extortion and daylight robbery against Nigerians.”
However, speaking on Sunday, the power ministry spokesperson, Eke, affirmed that the stance of the government on tariff increase had not changed.
“The position of the honourable minister of power is very clear on the electricity tariff matter. What the minister has said is that the burden of the electricity subsidy is much on the Federal Government and cannot be maintained.
“That is what the minister also said when he appeared before the Senate. We are not toeing the path of the trade unions. The only thing here is that the minister has made his position clear,” she said.
But the TUC insisted on the two-week ultimatum handed down to the NERC, just as it vowed to monitor the electricity distribution companies.
The National Deputy President of the TUC, Tommy Etim, noted that the NERC should toe the path of caution, insisting that due process was not followed before the tariff was raised.
‘Ultimatum stays’
He noted, “If you recall, the National Assembly summoned the NERC and power ministry and asked that the tariff be reversed. The truth is that due process was not followed. You cannot just announce a hike like that. It is not done anywhere.
“You have to follow due process, organise public hearings and engage in dialogue with stakeholders. You cannot just come and say Nigerians should now start to pay one particular rate, it is not done anywhere.”
An official of the NLC, who spoke under condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak on the issue, noted that the organized labour was collaborating with the civil society groups to monitor the situation and compel the Discos to revert to the old rates.
The labour official described as illegal and insensitive the unilateral increase in the power tariff by the NERC, arguing that it constituted a big burden to small-scale enterprises.
The source said, “Our position has not changed. NERC did not follow the statutes in hiking electricity tariffs. The law stipulates that it must consult with the stakeholders before taking such a decision which it never did.
“That hike is, therefore, considered not only illegal but also insensitive to the plight of Nigerians who are already burdened by the crisis of survival.
“Moreover, the simple question is how would small-scale businesses survive such an unmindful hike and even the big businesses are also complaining? In essence, it is going to have a huge inflationary spiral on the economy.
Speaking further, he warned the Discos against trivialising the ultimatum issued by the unions, adding that they would start picketing the utility firms from next week.
He added, “The NLC and the TUC have already issued an ultimatum to the Federal Government on this and in the coming weeks will picket the NERC and DISCOs nationwide if that decision is not rescinded.
“We are fortunately not alone on this. Members of the civil society organisations including the National Assembly have also asked the Federal Government to halt the tariff hike.”
Meanwhile, Ajaero while speaking on Labour Lens, a programme aired on TVC, on Saturday night, reinforced the widely held notion that the government failed to follow due process.
“The (Electricity) Act is clear: Do public hearing with relevant stakeholders. There was no widely held consultation with stakeholders in the sector. The involvement of the ministry of power is suspect; for you to go into price fixing in a deregulated economy or deregulated sector. Such sectors are driven by market forces and then for you to now say we are going to change this, there is a problem.
‘Power sector regulated’
“After privatisation, the state is meant to hands off. Now the minister is saying if Nigerians won’t pay a particular price then they won’t have access to electricity. That is a threat.”
Speaking on the ultimatum, Ajaero said, “This electricity tariff, it remains one week, reverse it. Follow the law, follow the rules. The administrative rules set up for you to have tariff increase, follow it, consult.”
Speaking in the same vein, the National Coordinator of the Human Rights Writers Association, Emmanuel Onwubiko, described the insistence of the government on increasing the tariff as unreasonable and insensitive, noting the inflationary trends, unemployment, and the high number of multi-dimensionally poor persons in the country.
“First and foremost, I want to say that it is an act of political rascality and the height of irresponsibility on the part of anybody in or out of government who would assert that Nigerians are supposed to pay higher electricity tariffs. It doesn’t make sense for anybody to say that,’’ the activist submitted.
Citing the inflationary trends, unemployment and high costs of living, Onwubiko said it was irrational for any official to canvass higher tariffs.
The Executive Director of the African Centre for Media, and Information Literacy, Chido Onumah, admonished the government to declare a state of emergency in the power sector and evaluate the factors responsible for poor generation and distribution of electricity.
He stated, “I think like so many other things in the country, the government needs to have a state of emergency to reflect on the challenges. What is it? Is it corruption? They have privatised it, they have unbundled it, and yet we still are unable to have a power supply.
“So, we need to find a solution, whether it is further decentralising it or allowing even the local governments or community electricity grid or something to that effect.
“I think the long-term solution would be to declare a state of emergency in the electricity sector and agree on what needs to be done concretely.
