Afenifere, pan-Yoruba socio-cultural organisation, on Saturday, accused the Ministry of Power and the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, of forcing Nigerians to pay for their inefficiency.
NERC had on Wednesday, announced that electricity consumers on Band A would begin to pay N225 per kilowatt hour as against N68 they had been paying up till then.
Reacting, in a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Jare Ajayi, the group decried that the increase would thwart the current administration’s effort at boosting the economy as businesses would shrink.
“Afenifere called on President Bola Tinubu to compel the Ministry of Power, to reverse the present hike, go into alternative energy sources like solar and wind, review the terms with which the 2013 exercise was carried out and be more innovative,” the statement read.
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The group further wondered how businesses could flourish with 300 percent increase just within 24 hours of its announcement.
“If the relevant government agencies are to be sincere with Nigerians, what they should do is to first ensure regular and efficient supply of electricity before acceding to increase in payment for services that are being poorly rendered.
“A rough calculation indicated that a person on Band A who was paying an average of N50,000 per month (on N68 per kWh) would now have to pay N170,000 for the same service. Note the increase!
“It is noteworthy that the Ministry and its agency, the NERC, are interested in the revenue that would be generated rather than first ensuring regular and efficient supply. This is in contradiction to the claim that the government agencies care about the pains of Nigerians,” the statement added.
