Since April 3, when the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission announced the removal of the subsidy on the electricity consumed by Band A customers, Nigerians have continued to raise their voices against the policy, as power outages persist in the country.
According to the NERC, the electricity tariff for Band A customers was revised upward from N68 per kilowatt-hour to N255/KWh. Other customers in Band E to E were reportedly not affected by the tariff hike.
One kilowatt-hour is the amount of energy consumed by a 1,000-watt appliance in an hour. For instance, a 100-watt light bulb that is kept running for 10 hours would consume 1 kWh of energy.
After releasing the 2024 Supplementary Multi-Year Tariff Order, the NERC directed the 11 distribution companies to release their lists of Band A customers, who must get at least a 20-hour supply daily.
The regulator and the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, threatened to sanction distribution companies that fail to supply Band A customers with 20 hours of electricity.
The DisCos were also mandated to inform customers whenever they failed to meet the required minimum service level.
NERC said that where a DisCo failed to deliver on the committed level of service on a Band A feeder for two consecutive days, the DisCo should, by 10 am the next day, publish on its website an explanation of the reasons for the failure and update the affected customers on the timeline for restoration of service to the committed level.
It stated that if a customer’s service level improved to at least 20 hours, they should be upgraded from lower service bands to Band A, adding that if the DisCo failed to meet the committed service level to a Band A feeder for seven consecutive days, the feeder would be downgraded to the recorded level of supply by the applicable framework.
Immediately after the announcement was made, the DisCos wasted no time in implementing the new tariff order, transitioning to a cost-reflective tariff effective April 1. Some DisCos were also accused of wrongly billing Band B customers as Band A, blaming technical glitches.
There were hues and cries from Nigerians. Individuals, civil society organisations, top politicians, and netizens condemned the hike in the tariffs payable by Band A customers. Electricity employees also threatened to down tools, but the government was adamant on its decision, which it said would save the power sector from further collapse.
While appearing before the Senate Committee on Power at an investigative hearing over the tariff hike last week Monday, the power minister warned that there would be a total blackout in the country in the next three months if the electricity tariff hike was not implemented.
Adelabu stated: “The entire sector will be grounded if we don’t increase the tariff. With what we have now for the next three months, the entire country will be in darkness if we don’t increase tariffs. The increment will catapult us to the next level. We are also Nigerians; we are also feeling the impact.”
However, Nigerians are feeling the impact of the tariff hike more, as they struggle with the rising cost of living in the country.
Though the government claimed that the affected Band A customers were those who had the financial wherewithal to afford N225/kWh, there are indications that many poor individuals, including pensioners, also fall into these Band A feeder locations.
Nigerians in Band A now get four units for N1,000 instead of 14 units. With N30,000, an electricity consumer could only buy 133 units instead of over 400 units before the subsidy was removed.
A customer of the Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company, Joke Fashanu, complained that she purchased a token worth N29,900 on April 14, but got less than she deserved as a Band A customer.
“I was expecting 132.9 units since the tariff rate for band A is N225/unit. However, I got 123.6 units; which means I was charged N241.9/unit,” she said, calling on the IKEDC to provide explanations.
A social media commentator, Morris Monye, recounted that he used to get 812kWh with N65,000, which he consumed biweekly, but he got just 288kWh for the same N65,000 after the subsidy removal.
“I didn’t even notice the change in kilowatt-hours till the light went off, and I’ve just realised it. So, I will spend almost N400,000 on electricity in a month,” he stated.
Franklin Ikpeoha described the new tariff as annoying, saying, “Initially, I used to pay N40,000 for 504kWh that would last my household for two weeks. Currently, N40,000 can only afford 164kWh kWh, which can’t even last up to two weeks. This is not sustainable.”
While justifying the tariff hike before the senators last week Monday, Adelabu had argued that Nigerians who were moved to Band A now spend less on diesel and petrol to run their generator sets.
But, the Senator representing Osun Central, Olubiyi Fadeyi, disagreed, lamenting that he still spent N1m to purchase diesel, the same amount he spent on electricity bills as a Band A customer.
Fadeyi said the tariff hike could not be justified as Band A customers were not getting enough electricity supply.
He said, “Honourable minister, you are a hardworking man and you are putting in your best. But people are not getting value for the Band A power distribution.”
“I spend N1m on electricity and another N1m on diesel. This excludes how much I spend on my businesses. If the electricity (supply) was good, I wouldn’t spend that much on fuelling my generator.”
Fadeyi added that NERC should put more effort into performing its regulatory role to allow for effectiveness.
Reacting on various social media platforms, Nigerians wondered what the poor masses should say if a senator could be lamenting over the tariff hike.
“So, how do you expect the normal man who earns N30,000 monthly to survive?” Edikan Akpabio asked.
Also, David Sunday told the senator, “You’re using 20 people’s salaries to buy diesel and pay light bills, yet you’re still complaining.”
In their reaction to the tariff hike, the Northern Elders Forum argued, “Under the new tariff plan, 24 hours of electricity per day will cost a staggering N5,400, amounting to an unbearable monthly total of N162,000 and an astounding yearly total of N1,971,000.”
In a country where some state governors have yet to pay the N30,000 minimum wage, electricity seems to have become a luxury for civil servants and other low-income earners, who find themselves among the premium customer category.
With the exchange rate hovering around N1,300 and the inflation rate at over 33 per cent, the northern elders said: “These exorbitant amounts are simply unaffordable for the majority of Nigerians, who are already grappling with economic hardship and trying to make ends meet.”
However, experts have advised that an average consumer would spend less if energy conservation is adopted by all Nigerians.
It could be recalled that the power minister came under heavy criticism when he advised Nigerians to shun energy waste by putting off their freezers when items therein were frozen.
SOURCE: PUNCHNG
