Falana Chides FG Over Tariff Increment

Due to the recent increase in electricity tariffs for Band A users,  human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, has threatened to approach the courts to seek redress for Nigerians.

Falana stated this during his appearance on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics, arguing that  the recent tariff increase for Band A consumers by the government cannot be justified under the Electricity Act, 2023.  

According to the Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Nigerians are being forced to foot the bill for the incompetence and waste of those in charge of the electrical industry since the Federal Government eliminated electricity subsidies in 2022.

Human rights attorney Femi Falana claims that the Federal Government intends to raise energy rates for Nigerians classified under other bands in addition to Band A customers through the Nigerian energy Regulatory Commission (NERC).

 The electricity cost for clients that receive a 20-hour daily power supply was increased by NERC on April 3, 2024. Clients falling into this group are referred to as Band A customers. Customers would now pay N225 kilowatt per hour instead of the current N66, a development that has drawn harsh criticism from many Nigerians given the urgency of the pricing hike and the ongoing hardships in the country.

The new energy pricing increase, according to Minister of Power Adebayo Adelabu, will only impact 1.5 million of the roughly 12 million customers in the sector.

Falana asserted that the government is attempting to generate money for financially constrained power distribution companies (DisCos), but he maintained that there is no electricity subsidy.

Falana said, “Under that law, there are certain steps to take and we are going to embark on those steps tomorrow (Monday) which is to raise serious objections with respect to the impunity that has characterised the recent increase.

“At the appropriate time if there is no response, we will have to go to court because the government had warned, the minister had warned that the increase this time around will only fetch the government or the discos N1.6trn whereas the destination is N3trn.

“So, the poor people that he (the minister) is talking about, the other bands, very soon, the government is going to extend the increases to them so that the N1.4trn the minister is talking about will be recovered.

“They (the government) are increasing tariff to assist the cash-strapped discos majority of which have now been taken over by the banks and AMCON, and the banks and AMCON have no competence to run electricity companies.”

Falana criticised the administration for being indifferent to the suffering of Nigerians who are still coping with the financial fallout from the removal of petrol subsidies and the failure of the foreign exchange windows—two measures taken by President Bola Tinubu’s administration that have led to an unprecedentedly high cost of living.