THE decision by the Federal Government to once again increase electricity tariff against public disapproval, and despite the poor power supply situation, smacks of obduracy and disdain to public feeling. This is the third time electricity tariff has been increased in the past three years consecutively without a corresponding improvement in power supply. The situation has rather worsened.Sometime in June 2010, electricity tariff was hiked from N6/kilowatt to N8.50. The following year, 2011, government made another increase effective July 1. And now, less than a year later, Nigerians are being presented with another increase with vague promises of improvement.All the increases have been effected in disregard of superior arguments to the contrary, including that there has been no appreciable improvement in power supply over the period. Instead the entire country is practically in darkness while the meagre quantity of electricity available is strictly rationed in many areas. The latest increase is being spearheaded by the Minister of Power, Professor Bart Nnaji and Dr. Sam Amadi, who chairs the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), both of who insist that the only way to attract investors to the electricity reform programme is by raising the tariff.According to the Electricity Power Sector Reform (EPSR) Act 2005, electricity tariff will be reviewed every five years in order to ensure cost-reflective tariff and to protect all stakeholders' interests, including consumers, investors and regulators. NERC says that the new tariff structure is in accordance with the Multi Year Tariff Order (MYTO) 2. MYTO, it would be recalled, was introduced in 2008 to boost investors' confidence in the power sector. It presumes a regular power supply regime that would give consumers the confidence to pay. But that has not been the case.Professor Nnaji said under the new tariff regime, the urban poor and rural dwellers will pay N4/kilowatt as against the previous N7/kilowatt. All consumers that fall between R1 and R2, based on MYTO indices, will be exempted from monthly fixed charges, while R3 to L1 are expected to subsidise the urban poor and rural dwellers through cross-subsidy programme.The handful of support for these proposals mainly from institutional consumers such as the governors and the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) can hardly be justified, because past increases in tariff have not been matched by improved performance. This, in fact, informed the opposition of the majority of Nigerians, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) whose positions are being disregarded. The criticisms border on why Nigerians should be paying for the electricity they did not consume'Quite often, the Power Holding Company of Nigeria distributes outrageous bills that were merely estimates on monthly basis passed over to hapless consumers. It is unconscionable for the authorities to pretend not to know this age-old swindle. It is unjust to make people pay for services not rendered. And to frequently raise the same charges in advance of unguaranteed expected improvement of power supply is unacceptable, amounting to forcing hapless Nigerians to bear the brunt of official ineptitude and mismanagement. Therefore, the preachments by Amadi and Nnaji are unconvincing.The problem in the power sector is more fundamental than what has been expressed. It involves corruption and lack of political will to tackle the problem. It is wrong for government to predicate the expected improvement in power supply to hike in electricity charges. Nigerians are disenchanted and can no longer trust government, as all the promises on electricity improvement over the past 13 years were never fulfilled. Comparing the power sector to that of telecommunications is illogical because Nigerians did not start paying for high telephone tariffs until the services became availableIt is unfortunate that state governors also adopt a poor attitude to the welfare of their people, as depicted in their tacit support for the increase, and without a seeming appreciation of the import. Is it because they do not have to pay personally for electricity'To stimulate investment in the power sector, the government should demonstrate its seriousness and justify the huge amounts already expended. It can also borrow a leaf from the procedure in the telecommunications sector. Private investors can be attracted in so far as a huge market is available and willing to be tapped. MYTO should not merely imply yearly tariff increase, as is being done. This is against the provisions of EPSR Act 2005.It is pertinent to ask how much is expected to be collected from the increased tariff on a yearly basis. What is the total over a given time' And how much is needed for the proposed investment' Why must the investors inherit the existing dysfunctional power plants' Why would they not build new state-of-the-art plants that would ensure steady supply of electricity' What Nigerians want is light first. The increase is unwarranted at this stage, and it should be suspended.
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