The Coalition for Affordable and Regular Electricity has kicked against what it called the provocative hike in electricity tariff for Band A customers, calling on leaders of pro-masses organisations to mobilise workers and community people for a struggle to resist the policy.
While saying the government claimed that the hike was targeted at the rich, the group said there was hardly any community exclusively for the rich.
In a statement on Monday, the National Coordinator of CARE, Chinedu Bosah, said there are many workers, pensioners and urban poor people who are residents or shop owners in communities that would be adversely affected by the tariff hike.
“Besides, this tariff which affects many big companies will translate into higher costs of production or business and be passed on to workers and the poor as higher prices of goods and services. As a result, the current cost of living crises will be further aggravated, potentially throwing more working people into poverty.
“Therefore, the new tariff should be rejected by working people and youth. Coalition for Affordable and Regular Electricity condemns this hike and demands reversal,” he said.
Bosah argued that the lack of stable electricity for industries was one major reason many companies closed down and relocated abroad, contributing to a high unemployment rate.
“This anti-poor Tinubu-led government is all out to protect the profit and greed of a few while it cares less about Nigerian workers and the poor,” he alleged.
He spoke further that the agenda was also to create an apartheid-styled electricity distribution system entrenched in massive exploitation.
“This means communities dominated by the middle class and the rich get 20 hours or more electricity daily while communities dominated by workers and the poor get little or no electricity daily. In this type of unfair, discriminative electricity supply, Band A which constitutes about 15 per cent may get about 50 per cent or more of the electricity supply while 85 per cent of the other consumers may get less than 50 per cent of the electricity supplied.
“The power sector was built and funded by Nigerian taxpayers which include Nigerian workers and the poor, but it is a case of robbing Peter (workers/poor) to pay Paul (the rich),” he remarked.
Bosah expressed fear that “the outrageous tariff hike announced for Band A consumers is to test the waters and more hikes await consumers on other Bands until the so-called cost-reflective pricing is achieved”.
He argued, “It is clear there is manipulation of subsidy figures and Nigerian working masses should not believe the outrageous figures being brandished. NERC’s chairman, Sanusi Garba said the subsidy for 2024 is N1.6tn while the Minister of Power, Mr Adebayo Adelabu said it is N2.9tn. Any subsidy declared by the private power companies, NERC and the Ministry of Power is not unreliable”.
The activist posited that what the power sector has been known for since the privatisation in 2013 was incessant tariff hikes and widespread darkness.
“Since privatisation, generation, transmission and distribution of electricity is at an average of 3800MW out of the installed capacity of about 13,000MW while 80 million Nigerians, mostly from the rural areas are yet to be connected to the national grid. This is a monumental failure for privatisation and the Nigerian capitalist ruling elite.
“Given the obvious failure of privatisation, there is an urgent need to re-nationalise the power sector, bring it under public ownership and be subjected to democratic control and management of the working masses with the view to ushering in massive public investment that will drive the cost of electricity down and making it affordable in the long run for most Nigerian consumers while electricity consumed by the poorest is subsidised,” he maintained.
Making demands, he called on trade union leadership and leaders of pro-masses organisations to mobilise workers and community people for a struggle to resist both the current and planned electricity tariff hike.
“The struggle should also demand a reversal of the tariff hike, a reversal of privatisation of the power sector, massive public investment, and democratic control by workers and consumers,” Bosah demanded.
SOURCE: PUNCHNG
