Members of House of Representatives speak on poor power supply in Nigeria


The
House of Representatives on Thursday condemned rising electricity tariff in the
country.
This
followed a motion by Rep. Shehu Musa (Bauchi-APC) on the “need to evaluate the
multi-year tarried order system of electricity tariff in Nigeria.”

The
lawmakers said that the increase was unjustified considering the commitment of
N213 billion to the operators in the power, who had failed to boost supply to
Nigerians.
Musa
recalled that in 2008, Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) adopted
Multi-Year Tariff Order (MYTO) methodology to regulate electricity tariff and
the tariff setting, in consultation with stakeholders, labour and consumers.
He
said it was to provide correct pricing of electricity, taking into
consideration the key principles of cost reflectivity, affordability,
incentives for efficient operations and other assumptions, including tertiary
rates, exchange rates, inflation, gas prices and subsidies.
According
to him, the new tariff regime continues to increase from an average of N10 per
kwh in 2007 to an average of N24.20 per Kwh in 2017 without significant
improvement in power supply.
“We
are concerned by the quantum of public outcry over the continuous increase in
the price unit of electricity set under this new tariff regime.
“This
is in spite of the N213 billion-Nigerian Electricity Market Stabilization Fund
provided by the Federal government as subsidy to the industry operators.
“We
should be concerned that even the presently fixed price unit of electricity is
said to be under-priced and that plans are underway to gradually increase the
tariff to cover full costs
“Equally
of concern is that the tariff is not in tandem with economic realities of
Nigeria, coupled with attendant hardships being experienced by Nigerians due to
the collapse of small and medium-scale businesses and industries,” Musa said.
The
motion was unanimously adopted when it was put to voice vote and an ad hoc
committee was asked to interface with NERC and other stakeholders to critically
evaluate the MYTO system.
Meanwhile.
Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, has advised Nigerians
to accept the reality of increased electricity tariff.
He
said the increment was effected so that Nigerians can enjoy reliable power
supply.
The minister urged
Nigerians to ask that meters be supplied instead of getting court injunctions
against tariff review.
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