Senate has urged the Federal Government to stop its planned increase in electricity tariffs via the planned withdrawal of electricity subsidies.
The upper legislative chamber made the call through a motion it adopted at plenary on Wednesday in Abuja.
The motion was captioned “Planned Increase in Electricity Tariff and Arbitrary Billing of Unmetered Customers by Distribution Companies (DisCos)” and brought under matters of urgent public importance, sponsored by Sen. Aminu Abbas (PDP Adamawa) and 10 co-sponsors.
Abbas said it was worrisome to hear of the plan to increase the electricity tariff by the relevant statutory authority in spite of increased economic challenges with attendant widespread poverty and a high cost of living in Nigeria.
He claimed that the Minister of Power was reported to have said that “the nation must begin to move towards a cost-effective tariff model, as the country is currently indebted with N1.3 trillion naira to generating companies (GenCos) and 1.3 billion dollars owed to gas companies.
According to Abass, the minister had said that more than N2 trillion was needed for subsidies, but only N450 billion was budgeted in 2024.
“The Senate may further note that the same electricity businesses are collecting money from customers for services not rendered.
“When they have not added anything to the equipment, they inherited it from Power Holding Company of Nigeria.
“Communities buy transformers to replace damaged ones in addition to overburdening bills and arbitrary estimates for unmetered customers.
“This is taking place in a country where a greater number of the population is living below the poverty level, with stagnant wages.
“With rising inflation and depreciating currency, the prospect of a higher electricity bill is unattainable,” Abbas said.
He said that arbitrary energy charges on unmetered customers had become worrisome given the February 2024 report of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) on non-compliance with energy billing caps by DisCos and the penalty of N10.5 billion imposed on DisCos for overcharging its unmetered customers.
Abbas said that in 2020, the President of Nigeria ordered NERC to commence mass pre-paid metering to end estimated billing, saying that funds were released to that effect.
He said it was worrisome that multiple sanctions were declared to be imposed by NERC against DisCos for failing to comply with the eradication of estimated billing for unmetered customers, which included credit adjustments to overbilled unmetered customers for the period Jan–September 2023.
He said the March 2024 billing cycle and the publication of the list of credit adjustment beneficiaries in two national dailies indicate a deduction of N10.5 billion from the annual allowed revenues of the eleven DisCos during the next tariff review.
This, he said, seemed to have been in futility, given the continued violations by DISCOs.
He expressed reservation that, in addition to the high cost of living experienced in the country, the unmetered customers who are owners of small and medium enterprises were adversely impacted by the level of exorbitant electricity charges and, by implication, had their businesses affected.
Senate in its further resolution mandated the Committee on Power to investigate the over N2 trillion subsidy requirements as stated by the Minister of Power to avoid the repeat of fuel subsidy scenario.
It also mandated the committee to investigate the statement made by the minister with regards to the N1.3 trillion the ministry was said to owe the GenCos and the N1.3 billion dollars owed to gas companies.
It also urged the committee to investigate the roles of the Ministry of Power, NERC, and Ziglaks Company in the failed agreement to provide prepaid meters and ensure Nigeria is not shortchanged.
It also urged the committee to engage the NERC to come up with a lasting solution to the energy billing system in the country and other related issues.
The senate urged the committee to find out the truth of the matter on the issue of the Federal Government directive and the release of funds for mass pre-paid metering and report findings to it.
It also urged the committee to enforce and ensure the judicious utilisation of the N10.5 billion naira penalty imposed on DISCOs
It further called for an investigation of the operations of DisCos to ascertain the current status of metering and their extent of compliance with relevant legal and regulatory frameworks in service delivery.
The senate directed NERC to furnish the committee with any relevant documents on metering of electricity consumers, post-privatization requirements for the operation of DisCos, and evidence of regulatory actions taken to ensure statutory compliance by DisCos.
Senate also directed NERC to ensure implementation of energy caps by all DisCos to unmetered customers in the country;
It further directed its committee to submit a comprehensive report for further legislative action.(NAN)
