The Federal Government on Friday assured Nigerians that there will not be a major hike in electricity tariff.
The Minister of Power, Sale Mamman, in a statement to clarify the reports of a possible major increase in the tariff, he said Nigerians should instead expect improved efficiency in the sector amid rising inflation and foreign exchange scaricity.
There had been speculation that the ministry would increase electricity tariff across the country starting from July. This has attracted criticisms from Nigerians with many economists saying the act would further worsen inflation.
Mamman described the order by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission on April 26, 2021 titled “Notice of Minor and Extraordinary Review of Tariffs for Electricity Transmission and Distribution Companies,” was a routine procedure.
He added that the review being planned by the NERC was in accordance with Section 76 of the Electric Power Sector Reform Act of 2005.
Mamman said, “The tariff for customers on service bands D and E (customers being served less than an average of 12 hours of supply per day over a period of one month) remains subsidised in line with the policy direction of the Federal Government.”
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He said Section 76 of the Electric Power Sector Reform Act of 2005 provided clear guidelines for the periodic review of tariff based on market data and submissions from licensees.
Accroding to him, the guidelines include the provision that the NERC shall give notice of activities related to tariff in the Official Gazette, and in one or more newspapers.
“The Multi-Year Tariff Order (MYTO) per NERCs regulation obtains inputs from operators in the market every 6 months to perform minor reviews and a major review is required every 5 years,” he added.
”Thus, as in January, a minor review will occur in June. Given the timing for the Extraordinary review has also elapsed, a review will occur for consideration in January 2021.”
Mamman assured Nigerian that the government remained faithful to the adopted resolutions from the Joint FGN-NLC/TUC Technical Committee on Electricity Tariffs.
He stated that the joint committee had suggested that the NERC should conduct an extraordinary review of the MYTO to further review factors and align them with current evolving realities.
