The Deputy Minority of the House of Representatives, Hon Toby Okechukwu has raised the alarm on the recently announced increment in electricity tariffs.
Okechukwu while speaking to newsmen queried the basis for the increment which resulted in the Enugu zone being charged more than Lagos.
He said that the House through its Committee on Power will interrogate the increment.
According to the new increment released by Nigeria Electricity Regulation Commission (NERC), electricity consumers in Ikeja got an increment from N13.34 per kWh since under the 2015 MYTO when the last review was carried out to N21.80 per kWh, while consumers in Enugu, who used to pay about N17.42 per kWh will, under the new order, pay about N30.93 kWh.
The National Assembly is still on holiday.
The lawmaker said that tariff should commensurate with power supply, noting that Nigerians are paying for darkness.
“Nigerians are really hurting, cost is supposed to be based on certain parameters, and for the level of the increase, particularly in the Enugu distribution zone, is completely abnormal. It is almost the highest, that is in addition to other incoherent policies in the conduct of the company (Enugu Electricity Distribution Company).
“We will require NERC to interrogate the basis of the increase in terms of the operating cost, and the cost increase of the Enugu zone, as well as others. How can Lagos be cheaper than Enugu. NERC has not been able to interrogate the assumption.”
He further said that, “The Tariffs should come with power supply. Essentially, what we are witnessing is obvious darkness, especially those of us in the South-East, it has become an abysmal situation.
“The tariff increase should reflect reality, there is neither power supply, and the assessment of the cost is high, the operating cost as assumed is completely abnormal”
The lawmaker, who represents Aninri/Agwu/Oji-use Federal Constituency of Enugu State disclosed that the House will interrogate the situation to ensure that there is due diligence in the increment of tariffs.
He also accused the Enugu electricity company of refusing to connect communities to the national grid, despite individuals and communities buying electricity transformers.
“The House will intervene to ensure that there is due diligence, the basis of the increase will need to be interrogated.
“So, we will like to do some due diligence, and it is our legitimate responsibility as a parliament, particularly the committee on power. We will ask them to find out how they arrived at that cost so that Nigerians are not burdened unduly. There should be a correlation between the cost and what you get.