Electricity tariff hike: Nigerian govt reveals next plan after workers’ protest

The debate around the increase in electricity prices last month is still very much alive because, on Monday, Nigerian labourers stopped power sector operations, asking that the increase be reversed.

According to ZINGTIE, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, or NERC, and the offices of all eleven electricity distribution companies were picketed by organised workers.

The NLC president, Joe Ajaero, led the protest in Abuja, leading it to the Ministry of Power and the NERC offices.

The Abuja Electricity Distribution Company also closed its offices since employees could not return.

Similarly, they picketed the eleven discos’ offices in Sokoto, Lagos, Kaduna, Plateau, Enugu, and Kwara, among other places in the nation.

Ajaero stated that NERC ought to reevaluate its process for raising tariffs in the electrical industry while the picketing was taking place.

He pointed out that the country’s skyrocketing price and food inflation, which stood at 33.20 per cent and 40.01 per cent in March, is mostly the result of the tariff hike.

The Nigerian government has said it is prepared to negotiate with organised labour in response to the labour unions’ one-day demonstration.

In a phone interview with ZINGTIE following the workers’ crippling of Ministry of Power operations, a spokesman for the Ministry of Power, Mrs Florence Eke, stated that the Federal Government, through the Permanent Secretary, Mr Mamman Mahmuda, had scheduled a consultative meeting with organised labour and stakeholders for the following week to address the issue.

“The Ministry has asserted that its responsibility is to make policy while agencies, in this case, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, and other agencies implement it.

“The Ministry will invite all stakeholders for a proper consultation by next week,” she said.

Benson Upah, a spokesman for the Nigeria Labour Congress, informed the ZINGTIE that before enacting the energy pricing hike on April 3, the government was required to have consultations.

He warned that if the Nigerian government did not stop the pricing hike, the picketing would only be a taste of what would come.

Before the tariff increase, a consultation was meant to be held. He claimed that today’s events are just a taste of what is ahead if the government does nothing.

Remember that the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission declared in April 2024 that Band A customers receiving 20–24 hours of power would see a 240% increase in electricity tariffs.

Due to the hike, customers in band A now pay N225 kWh instead of N68 kWh.

The Nigerian government justified the increase by claiming in various forums that it would save N1.5 trillion and that just 15% of the 12.8 million energy users would be impacted.

A recent announcement of a slight reduction of N18.2 was made in response to Nigerians’ rejection of the raise.

However, as demonstrated by the workers’ picketing of NERC and Discos, organised labour is unhappy with the government’s small tariff cut.

In response to the news, Ewetumo A. A., a retired National Electric Power Authority (NEPA) employee, formerly known as the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), stated that the organised labour picketing was long overdue.

“Regrettably, today’s picketing action by the NLC and TUC is belated and long overdue.

“The April 3, 2024, tariff increase, though only on Band A consumers, is having a ripple and multiplier effect on the economy.

“The inflationary trend in the country is alarming and worrisome.

“This present increase can only make it worse.

“NERC must adopt a more pragmatic and gradual three-step review approach to implementing its Cost Reflective Tariff Regime without unsettling the economy.

“Ultimately, the power sector needs a massive infusion of capital to build new power plants and refurbish the ageing old network.

“The Federal government is advised to explore a Public Private Partnership initiative to fund the power sector, incorporate the various states into blocks of regions to undertake a total transformation of the Power Sector”, he told ZINGTIE

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