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 more 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 lawmaker 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.
“The news of the increment came to me and many of my colleagues as a shock. It also came at a time when the National Assembly was on a break. Personally, I think the timing of this hike is very wrong. Nigerians are grappling with many challenges.
“To put this fresh responsibility on them is very unfair. Nigerians are yet to recover from the fuel subsidy removal of last year. Many Nigerians are still grappling with the ripple effects that removal had on them. To now come up with this is wrong.
“I believe that the timing is wrong. There ought to have been some consultations, especially with the National Assembly as representatives of the people. We were not consulted. We saw the news like every other Nigerian.
“The inflation is still very high. The prices of food commodities, drugs, transportation, school fees, and other daily expenditures are still on the high side. To now add this new burden is unfair.
“The minimum wage has not been increased. Many state governments are yet to even pay the current minimum wage of N30,000. How do we expect the people to survive? We’ve to be very realistic and feel the pulse of the people we represent as a government.
“For me, I think the Federal Government should first of all provide stable electricity, reduce the inflation, stabilise the naira and prices of food commodities. Then, the purchasing power of Nigerians must significantly improve before we can place a fresh responsibility on them as a government.
“The federal government needs to give the National Assembly the opportunity to also step in and consult because we represent the people. We feel their pulse, and we know what they’re going through right now,” he said.
