When on Wednesday this week, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) announced a 300% increase in electricity tariff for power consumers on Band A, not a few lamented that the coming days may be fraught with outrage. Yours sincerely, as some others did, decided to confirm which of the bands they were classified into. I was given 40.9 units for N10,000, instead of the 163 units that I was previously entitled. That means that I shall now require the sum of N80,000 (Eight Thousand Naira) to get the 326 units I was using per month.

The new tariff increase is only for consumers on Band A who enjoy 20–plus hour power supply. In reality, considering the woeful performance of the power sector since its privatisation in 2010, no area, including the Aso Presidential Villa, can be classified on Band A. I stand to be corrected. As soon as the announcement for the new increase was announced, the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) switched most of its customers to Band A. Curses rented the night as customers poured into online platforms for lamentation. Even my area, reputed for enjoying electricity supply for less than 10 hours a day, with many days of darkness, was classified Band A consumer.

The replacement of the behemoth National Electric Power Authority (NEPA) with Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) would later lead to the unbundling of the power sector into 24 power generation companies (GENCOs) and 11 distribution companies (DISCOs) in 2010. The major problem with the power sector is that powerful individuals, described as briefcase entrepreneurs, are simply using cronies to fleece the nation of funds. Without investments since taking over the power sector, these so-called power firms are only using local bank loans to run their show and declaring huge profits producing crippling pits of darkness.

Disrespect for rules

Over 10 years the unbundling, power outages and endless collapse of the national grid have defined a myriad of challenges incapacitating power generation and distribution. With the peak of power generation not exceeding 5,000 megawatts, nearly 40 percent of generated power is lost in the cobweb of transmission hitches due to obsolete equipment, among others. For a sector that is yet to deliver 30 percent of its potential, the newly reviewed tariff is seen as a deliberate ploy to fleece consumers of their hard-earned money.

The terrible state of inefficiency that the power sector now finds itself is not due to absence of rules, but premised on non-investment and disrespect for the rule of the game, thereby vitiating effective supervision and regulation. Unlike the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) that has turned around the fortunes of telecommunication in the country, the NERC has been enmeshed in whipping unwilling horses to the river.

Faced with power companies that have largely remained briefcase outfits, the regulatory sector for the power sector is rendered by the forces having strings with the owners of the company who are always in bed with power dealers and top politicians. NERC may be seen as free, but it is not totally free from the trappings of former government officials whose influence within the present political powerplay cannot be overestimated. That the government is still in complete charge of power transmission is reflective of the need to unbundle the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) so as to eliminate bureaucratic bottlenecks and extricate the virus of inefficiency that is ingrained in power transmission.

Do it right

There can’t be appropriate pricing of energy without reviving the comatose power sector. GENCOs and DISCOs are more interested in making profits than improving their performance profile for uninterrupted power to consumers. The last 10 years since the privatisation of the power sector have seen companies understaffed and not committed to increased levels of efficiency. The recent increase in tariff amounts to rewarding power companies for their woeful performance since taking over the power sector. There’s no way this increased tariff can stand, considering the gross incapability by these power firms to provide uninterrupted power to customers.

It is commendable that the NERC yesterday imposed a N200 million fine on AEDC, following complaints over its wholesale classification of its customers as belonging to Band A. Such a fine should send a very clear signal that cheating DISCOs would no longer be tolerated. If the government is for the welfare of the people; then, this current administration, led by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, should summarily rescind its decision on the new electricity tariff that is out to punish distraught electricity consumers. The fact is that Nigerians have been overstretched, and imposing further strangulating measures on them will not only threaten democracy, but may also lead to a public revolt against harsh policies that have reduced them into beggars who now depend on palliatives for survival.

The federal government must be wary of economic solutions prescribed by the Bretton Wood institutions. Still soaked in the flood of unrivalled economic hardship caused by the removal of oil subsidies, the President Tinubu-led administration should be reminded that even United and other European countries in 2022 provided its citizens with over $500 billion energy subsidies. Efforts must be geared towards extricating corruption from the provision of subsidies and not its realities and existence for cushioning hardship among citizens.

DatNiggaDaz:


It is too late to cry over spilt milk. Next time don everything to fight for competent leaders to lead the country to better heights.

2027 is another opportunity

Elections have consequences like reasonable people would say.



E don be o

DatNiggaDaz:


It is too late to cry over spilt milk. Next time sane Nigerians must do everything to fight for competent leaders to lead the country to better heights.

2027 is another opportunity

Elections have consequences like reasonable people would say.



E don be o

helinues:


If the insane people can win election of the acclaimed sane, then may be it's time for you people to consider the real meaning of both words.

You have probably been misusing it

Zxcvbnmghtr:


Peguin2 has suggested who will vote in 2027.

helinues:


Una no even know which story to come about again as we no dey even waste time to knock una lambas and fables..

DatNiggaDaz:


Dis man you still get hole to yarn crap.

As a man you no get shame at all.

Dis man

That my comment na very simple comment.

helinues:


Yeah and I made it simpler for you regarding the sane and insane Nigerians

markidoo:
First it was subsidy for petroleum products,then came the Fall 🍂 of the Naira💵, increase in Food and other essential commodities skyrocketed, not to talk 🦜🐦🦜 about insecurity, now it's electricity 🔌, these people keep biting Nigerians and the funny 🤣 thing is the elasticity that we can be stretched defies the Laws of Elasticity.. What can really be done to bring succour to the Common Man

SmartPolician:
Unfortunately, this writer didn't do justice to the issue at hand; he was only writing as a consumer who wanted the increase to be reversed.

However, I want to see a fair investigative journalist who will try to unravel what happens in that sector. The article should be able to answer the questions:

1. Why do Discos and Gencos owe banks nearly one trillion naira?

2. Why do Gencos not reinvest their earnings in the power generation infrastructure to improve power distribution?

3. How does the FG intend to have states supply power when Discos' licenses will still be valid for about 5 years?

4. When will the FG end the national grid regime and limit power generation, transmission and distribution to states?

5. What happens to FG power stations when states start generating their own power?

Please nobody should quote and tell me it is because of corruption. We need to get our journalists to think and do some serious work so that the citizens will understand what's happening in their country.

References1:


https://leadership.ng/this-new-tariff-must-not-stand/

helinues:


If areas are grouped to the right band based on the electricity they are supplied, this new tariff shouldn't have much effects.

All this epistle is unnecessary

nairalanda1:



There is but one answer

Lack of cost reflective tarrif.

Iamanoited:
73 NAIRA OR N52 per unit is ok.
But. N225 per unit is reckless and outrageous.