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HURIWA Blasts Buhari Over Planned Energy Tariff Hike
The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has accused the Federal Government and the National Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) of committing what it called “electricity terrorism.”
A prominent civil rights advocacy group, HURIWA, made the remark while urging Nigerians to publicly protest the proposed hike in the electricity tariffs as proposed by NERC to commence on April 1, 2020.
It accused NERC of conniving with shylock and corrupt private sector operators in the electricity industry to inflict unquantifiable agony and pains on Nigerians who are at the receiving end of what can possibly be described as ‘electricity terrorism’.
Dismissing the proposed hike in electricity tariff as the biggest April Fool’s scam by any government agency, the rights group asked Nigerians who are “sleep-walking” into involuntary servitude being imposed by the current totalitarian regime, to demand accountability from the Federal Government on how several billions of public fund frittered away packaged in the guise of dubious grants to the private entrepreneurs in the electricity power sector as a condition precedent before any national dialogue can take place on the way forward towards improving the dwindling and poor electricity power supplies to Nigerians.
A statement by HURIWA’s National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, noted that any upward review of tariffs of electricity can only be an imposition of “slave tariffs for the darkness that envelopes most parts of Nigeria at night following constant failures of the distributors to meet up with their business obligations to the consumers of electricity.”
The statement reads: “Nigerians must realize that what is needed for a dictatorship to take root is for the masses to accept hook, line, and sinker every unimaginable and toxic policy for good or for evil introduced by government without asking intelligent questions to ensure that there is transparency and accountability always.
“Nigerians should ask the federal government to explain how the N37billion grants for prepaid meter supply it gave to a private sector operator to supply meters to interested distribution companies were utilized since millions of electricity consumers are still without those meters even in the Federal Capital Territory in Abuja.”
HURIWA recalled that in 2028, the then Power Minister, Babatunde Fashola, disclosed that N37 billion was distributed as meter grants just as he made the announcement at the 28th monthly meeting of power stakeholders in Kaduna.
The rights group quoted Fashola, who did not mention the name of the company, as saying that the Federal Government provided the fund based on the demand for meters, given the increasing power generation, transmission and distribution in the country.
HURIWA, however, insisted that there was no empirical evidence to show what the unnamed company that benefitted from the political largesse of N37billion did with this humongous public cash given that millions of homes can’t find electricity meters for their use, thereby exposing them to extortion rackets run by the different regional DisCos that still charge estimated billings.
“Nigerians should also ask the Federal Government to render account on the N1.095trillion federal intervention fund distributed to DisCos by the Central Bank of Nigeria since 2018 even when power supplies are still poor and indeed over 80 million Nigeria families are still without electrical power.
“According to public information made available by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s annual report for 2018, the apex bank had as at the end of 2018, granted total credit of N1.095trillion to the power sector under three different schemes it set up.
“The schemes were Nigerian Electricity Market Stabilization Facility (NEMSF) worth N213.417billion meant to settle outstanding payment obligations due to market participants during the interim rules of the market as well as legacy debts owed by the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) to gas suppliers; the N300billion Power and Airline Intervention Fund (PAIF); and the N701billion Payment Assurance Facility (PAF) extended to the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc (NBET) to settle invoices of generation companies (GenCos) to a minimum level of 80 per cent,” the statement added.
The rights group condemned the opaque system in operation within the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Power Ministry because two years after, there are no available body of knowledge to justify or rationalise how these huge public funds were spent.
HURIWA said: “We call on Nigerians in their numbers to reject the decision by NERC to hike the tariffs of electricity power to be paid by Nigerians with effect from April 1 even without accounting for how government utilized the quantum of cash paid out to the private businesses in the electricity sector even without any form of improvements.”
Recall that NERC had recently directed the 11 electricity distribution companies, DisCos, to hike their tariffs by average of 50 per cent on April 1.
Ikeja Electric (IE) Plc, which made this disclosure in its memo to the commission, noted that the directive is “in order to meet the tariff shortfall funding target from 2020 by the Federal Government of Nigeria.”
Owing to the directive, the 50 per cent tariff increase is expected to raise the average tariffs from the current level of 27.30 N/kWh to 40.95 N/kWh, according to the Chief Executive Officer, Anthony Youdeowei.
The memo was dated February 12, 2020.
The power distributor titled the document: “Re: Addendum to Ikeja Plc’s Performance Improvement Plan and application for extraordinary tariff review of MYTO-2015.”
NERC, according to the IE document, said: “The objective for the extra-ordinary tariff review of MYTO-2015 is to ensure Ikeja Electric adjusts its tariff in line with the commission’s directive that current average allowed tariff shall be grossed-up 50 per cent from April, 2020.”
IE informed the commission that in line with the directive, “we have designed the tariffs based on the MYTO tariff model contained in the document, ‘Ikeja DisCo Tariff Model January, 2020’ shared with IE by the commission.
“In this application, we intend to create a new tariff class, called Bilateral; a class that is being created for customers that IE has a signed Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with under a willing-buyer-willing seller arrangement. In order to provide an efficient and reliable service to customers in this tariff class, cost-reflective tariffs are required to cover the cost of service delivery.”
President Bola Tinubu has expressed confidence that the country would win the fight against insecurity.
The President gave the assurance at the Argungu International Fishing Festival in Argungu town, Kebbi State, on Saturday.
He noted that the relative peace currently being enjoyed in Kebbi and neighbouring states was the result of sustained investments in security intelligence, coordination among security agencies, and community engagement.
Tinubu assured farmers and fishermen of sustained federal support to guarantee food security and safety across the country.
“The peace we are witnessing today is not accidental. It is the outcome of deliberate and sustained efforts. I assure you that the fight against banditry, insurgency, and insecurity will be won.
“Our farmers, fishermen, traders, and families will go about their lawful activities without fear,” he assured.
The President commended the organisers of the festival for sustaining the cultural event for decades, noting that it had endured for 83 years despite social and security challenges.
Describing the Argungu festival as a powerful symbol of unity, resilience, and peaceful coexistence, Tinubu stated that it reflects the richness of the country’s culture and the opportunities to harness its natural and human resources for national growth.
He said, “Today, this festival stands as a powerful symbol of unity, resilience, and peaceful coexistence among our people.
“It reflects the richness of our culture, the strength of our traditions, and the opportunities inherent in harnessing our natural and human resources for national development.”
The President was received by a large crowd of residents, traditional rulers, fishermen, tourists, and government officials from across the country.
The President reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to youth and women empowerment, irrigation development, rural electrification, and agricultural productivity.
Earlier, the Kebbi State Governor, Nasir Idris, said his administration was determined to elevate the Argungu Fishing Festival to full international standards while pursuing aggressive development across critical sectors of the state.
The United States Embassy in Abuja and the Consulate General in Lagos will be closed today, in observance of Presidents’ Day.
The mission made this known in a notice shared on its official X page, yesterday.
“The U.S. Embassy in Abuja and the Consulate General in Lagos will be closed on Monday, February 16, 2026, in observance of Presidents’ Day,” the post read.
According to the embassy, Presidents’ Day was originally established to honour the birthday of the former US President, George Washington, but has evolved into a day to celebrate all U.S. presidents and their leadership in shaping the country’s history.
The embassy noted that the holiday also recognises the influence of U.S. presidents on global affairs.
In a related message, the mission highlighted that Washington created the first “Badge of Military Merit,” which later became the Purple Heart. The medal still bears Washington’s image today.
Presidents’ Day is observed on the third Monday of February annually in the United States as a federal holiday.
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Guterres Backs Nigeria’s Bid For UN Security Council Seat …Hails Tinubu’s Reforms, Regional Security Role
United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, has charged Nigeria with spearheading Africa’s quest for a restructured global order, describing the country as uniquely positioned to lead the continent toward superpower status.
Guterres, who backed Nigeria’s bid for the world body’s security council seat, also praised the economic reforms of the President Bola Tinubu-led administration as well as Nigeria’s leadership in stabilising the Sahel and ECOWAS regions, despite facing its own security challenges.
The UN scribe made the remarks last Friday night during a high-level bilateral meeting with Vice President Kashim Shettima on the sidelines of the 39th African Union (AU) Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Speaking during the meeting, Guterres said Nigeria’s large population, sustained democratic governance, vast natural and human resources, and longstanding commitment to multilateralism placed it in a unique position to lead Africa in the evolving global order.
“Given Nigeria’s demographic strength, democratic continuity and deep resource base, the country stands a real chance of leading Africa to becoming the next superpower in the evolving global architecture,” he said.
The UN Secretary-General and the vice president discussed key developments in Nigeria and the country’s expanding leadership role in promoting regional stability across West Africa and the Sahel.
Guterres commended the remarkable and outstanding reforms of the administration of President Tinubu, noting that Nigeria’s bold economic restructuring and security commitments have strengthened its continental standing.
The meeting focused on strengthening Nigeria–UN collaboration to advance global economic growth, peace and security, sustainable development, and a coordinated humanitarian response across Africa.
In his remarks, Shettima thanked the UN Secretary-General for his leadership in advancing global peace, noting that Africa has benefited immensely from his tenure, even as the United Nations undergoes internal restructuring.
“We remain committed to multilateralism and to deepening our partnerships with the United Nations and other global institutions,” the vice president said.
Shettima also reiterated Nigeria’s longstanding call for comprehensive reform of the United Nations system to reflect evolving global realities.
He emphasised that Africa must have stronger representation in global decision-making structures and declared that Nigeria deserves a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council.
Both leaders pledged to deepen cooperation, with Guterres reaffirming the UN’s support for Nigeria’s reform agenda and its growing leadership role in advancing peace, security, and development across Africa.
