By Abimbola Ogunnaike
The Nigerian Senate has warned the Federal Government not to contemplate of increasing electricity tariff for now, saying that doing so would worsen the plight of Nigerians, just as it said that doing the increase at this time would have backlash effects.
The Red Chamber handed the warning at a plenary presided by the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio on Wednesday, 21 February, 2024.
The Senate further adopted a resolution asking its Committee on Power to investigate the over N2 trillion subsidy requirements, as claimed by the Minister of Power, and another N1.3 trillion owed electricity Generation Companies (GENCOs) as well as a $1.3 billion debt to gas companies.
Senators, who had earlier contributed to the motion, expressed concerns about the planned increase in electricity tariff, wondering if the Federal Government was sensitive to the plight of Nigerians over hunger and economic cash crunch at the moment.
The motion which was sponsored by Senator Aminu Iya Abba alongside 10 other lawmakers notified the upper legislative chamber of the planned electricity tariff hike and warned that “doing at this time would have backlash”.
The sponsor of the motion also called on the electricity companies to stop arbitrary billing of unmetered customers.
Supporting the motion, former Speaker of the House of Representatives and former governor of Sokoto State, Aminu Tambuwal, cautioned the Federal Government, saying it should first tackle hunger and hardship faced by citizens before contemplating electricity tariff hike.
After a debate, the Senate resolved that the Federal Government should stop the planned electricity tariff hike in the interest of Nigerians.
They further resolved that “the Minister of Power should be investigated over the N2 trillion he said was needed for electricity tariff to avoid the repeat of fuel subsidy scandal”.
Recall that last week, the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, disclosed at a press conference in Abuja that Nigeria was not likely to sustain the current electricity subsidy.
Adelabu explained that the indebtedness of the country’s power sector to electricity-generating companies and gas companies had risen to over N3 trillion.
“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 N2 trillion,” the minister said.
Recall that the Senate’s spokesperson, Yemi Adraamodu, in a recent interview he granted, said it would not allow any hike in the price of electricity that may add to the woes of Nigerians.
