Dogara kicks against high electricity tariff — despite N123bn bailout

Yakubu Dogara, speaker of the house of representatives, has described the continuous increment of electricity tariff as an act of injustice to Nigerians.

He said this at the national assembly during a public hearing organised by the house ad-hoc committee to interface with the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) and other stakeholders.

According to the speaker, the hearing was set up to “critically examine and re-assess all inputs and assumptions in the multi-year tariff-order (MYTO) system in our electricity industry in Nigeria and to put an end to the trend”.

He said the house was concerned about the “seeming injustice” as the federal government has had to bail out the energy sector with N123 billion.

He described the continuous increase in the unit price of electricity as unpleasant, saying it has prompted the house to examine the possibility of redressing it.

“There has been a prolonged public outcry over the continuous increase in the unit price of electricity, which many believe is not in tandem with the current realities in electricity supply,” he said.

“The tariff has continued to increase from an average of N10 per kw/h in 2007 to an average of N24.20 kw/h in 2017 without substantial improvement in power supply. Despite, the N123b Nigerian electricity market stabilization fund (NEMSF) provided by the federal government as subsidy to the sector operators, the situation still remains unpleasant.

“The multi-year tariff order (MYTO) methodology was designed to provide correct pricing of electricity, taking into consideration the key principles of cost reflectivity, affordability, incentives for efficient operations and other assumptions such as price escalators, model building blocks/parametres.

“The house is concerned about the seeming injustice to the Nigerian public, and wishes to examine the possibility of redressing the trend.

“It is needless to say that adequate electricity supply in our country will stimulate economic activities and reduce unemployment, which will invariably ameliorate youth restiveness and the high crime rate.

“As stakeholders, we must all join hands to find a lasting solution the challenge of unstable electricity supply in the country, and in particular, the issue of excessive electricity tariff that seems to be incongruous with the quality and quantity of electricity supplied.”

He charged the committee and stakeholders to come up with a draft realistic tariff regime that will address public outcry against the current tariff system.