The Nigerian senate has ordered the suspension of the new 45 percent electricity tariff increase by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).
The order of the Senate followed a motion to suspend the implementation of the new tariff, sponsored by Senator Suleiman Nazif (APC, Bauchi North), under Matters of National Importance. Labour had last Monday took to the street across the 36 states of the federation to protest the tariff increase, calling it “illegal and unacceptable”.
The Senate President Bukola Saraki, who posted the suspension on his official Facebook wall on Tuesday, explained that the move “is necessary because any increase in cost, without the necessary improvement in service delivery by the power companies is unacceptable.”
“The power distribution companies must work to ensure that every establishment in Nigeria is provided with capabilities for metered billing. Doing this would end the sharp practice of arbitrary billing, which estimates the power consumption of Nigerians in the generation of their monthly bills.”
