Human rights lawyer Femi Falana has strongly warned the Nigerian government about the recent sharp increase in electricity tariffs, which has caused consumers to struggle with high bills.
During an interview on Channels Television, Falana criticized the government’s plan, carried out by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), to expand the electricity tariff hike to consumers in other categories beyond ‘Band A’.
He argued that this increase goes against the Electricity Act of 2023 and promised to take legal action on behalf of affected Nigerians.
Falana stated that the electricity subsidy does not exist and accused the government of trying to raise money for financially struggling Discos.
He said: “Under that law, there are certain steps to take, and we are going to embark on those steps tomorrow (today), which is to raise serious objections with respect to the impunity that has characterized the recent increase.
“At the appropriate time, if there is no response, we will have to go to court because the government had warned, the minister had warned that the increase this time around will only fetch the government or the discos N1.6 trillion, whereas the destination is N3 trillion.
“So, the poor people that the minister is talking about, the other bands, very soon, the government is going to extend the increases to them so that the N1.4 trillion the minister is talking about will be recovered.
“They are increasing tariffs to assist the cash-strapped Discos, the majority of which have now been taken over by the banks and Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), and the banks and AMCON have no competence to run electricity companies.”
He criticized the government for not being sensitive to the struggles of Nigerians, who are still dealing with the economic effects of removing petrol subsidies and the collapse of foreign exchange systems.
