‘It’s ill-timed’ — Kaduna chamber of commerce faults electricity tariff hike

The Kaduna Chamber of Commerce (KCC) says the increase in electricity tariff is ill-timed as businesses continue to struggle.

On April 3, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) approved a tariff increase for Band A customers.

Customers on Band A are those who receive 20 to 24 hours of power supply.

Defending the tariff hike, Adebayo Adelabu, minister of power, said only 1.5 million customers — out of 12 million — are affected.

In a statement on Thursday, Ishaya Idi, president of KCC, asked the government to consider the economic situation in the country. 

“This review is, to say the least, ill-timed as it came at the time when businesses are struggling to survive as they are groaning under extremely challenging and life threatening conditions,” he said.

“Again, the citizenry continues to be impoverished as a result of policy decisions taken by the federal government within the last one year including withdrawal of fuel subsidy and depreciation of the naira in addition to insecurity being faced by all. 

“It is indeed surprising that under the prevailing circumstances, NERC will deem it appropriate and acceptable to approve such massive increase in one fell swoop without due consultations with relevant stakeholders and representatives of electricity consumers. 

“Moreover, the issue of having an improved power supply in the country has not been properly addressed by the same regulatory agency in the face of continued increase in electricity tariff with power generation at a constant 4,500 MW for years.”

Idi said the situation is further exacerbated by structural inefficiency, wastage, leakages and corruption in the electricity sector.

He said millions of customers are still not metered and “assessed monthly estimated bills”.

The chamber appealed to the NERC to re-evaluate its position on the approval of the new electricity rate. 

Therefore, the chamber said it would meaningfully engage with all stakeholders for the best way forward in terms of establishing a robust and dependable Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) and access to rightly priced and steady power supply by Nigerians.