Senator Ndume rejects hike in electricity tariff

By Iyojo Ameh

Chief Whip of the Senate and senator representing Borno South in the upper legislative chamber, Mohammed Ali Ndume, has rejected the recent hike in electricity tariff. He described the timing as wrong, maintaining that Nigerians were yet to recover from the removal of fuel subsidy.

The Federal Government, through the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), recently approved a 300 per cent tariff increment for Band A consumers, allowing power distribution companies to raise electricity prices for city dwellers from N68 to N225 per kilowatt-hour with effect from April 1, 2024.

In a statement made available to newsmen, Ndume condemned the move and called on the federal government to reconsider its position in the interest of Nigerians.

He said Nigerians are facing many challenges, including unprecedented inflation, poor purchasing power, insecurity, and other hardships.

The former Leader of the Senate, said the Federal Government should focus on providing stable electricity first to Nigerians, reduce the inflation, stabilise the naira, reduce food prices, and provide other basic amenities to Nigerians before increasing the tariff.

The lawmake also wondered why such an important decision was taken without duly consulting the National Assembly as representatives of the people.

Ndume said lawmakers’ constituents are also reaching out to them to intervene and reverse the astronomical increase.

Already, critical stakeholders in the country like Labour Unions, ethnic and religious leaders, have also rejected the arbitrary hike and have warned of the dire consequences that may result from it.