Senate Orders Reversal Of 40% Electricity Tariff Hike

The Senate yesterday ordered the reversal of
the 40 per cent hike in electricity tariff by
Electricity Distribution Companies (DISCOS)
and Generation Companies (GENCOs), andmandated its committees on Labour,
Employment and Productivity and Power to
liaise with electricity companies to comply
with the directive.
A motion against the tariff hike was brought
on the floor of the red chamber by Sen
Suleiman Nazif (Bauchi North-APC).Nazif who came under Orders 42 and 45 of
the Senate Rules, said there was an urgent
need to stop the hike, as according to him,
power supply stability was yet to be
achieved.
The deputy senate president, Ike
Ekweremadu who backed the motion and
dismissed the hike, decried that “As a
country and as a people, we are now on life
support and for any person to increase
tariff, is to be ultra-wicked and to draw
more blood from s. It’s unconscionable”.
He therefore called on the government to
suspend the hike and revert to the original
tariff forthwith.
He said Nigerians should not pay for the
fact that the DISCOs and the GENCOs that
bought these electricity companies, did not
have enough capital to provide for metres.
In his contribution, Sen Dino Melaye (Kogi-
APC), warned that the government-backed
tariff hike must be lowered for the interest of
the downtrodden who cannot afford.
He said: “This is one other time in the
history of the 8th Senate that people must
realise that we are here for the Talakawas
(the poor), Mekunus and the downtrodden,
and therefore we must carry out policiesthat
will favour them”.
He therefore ordered for “the immediate
reversal of this 40% increase in electricity
tariff forthwith”.
The Senate with Senate President Dr Bukola
Saraki presiding, adopted the arguments
and summarily referred the motion to
Committees on Labour and Power.