It would be recalled that the 8th Senate had, last week, directed NERC to immediately suspend implementation of the February 1st, 2016 tariff hikes, which, according to the upper chambers, is both unnecessary and arbitrary.
The Senate gave the order following a motion sponsored by Suleiman Nafiz (APC-Bauchi North) in which he had asked the house to probe how funds allocated to electricity companies were spent..
“Today, the 8th senate directed the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) to immediately suspend the February 1st 2016 tariff hike, which are estimated to be upwards of 40 per cent.
“This move is necessary because any increase in cost, without the necessary improvement in service delivery by the power companies is unacceptable.
“Furthermore, the power distribution companies must work to ensure that every establishment in Nigeria is provided with capabilities for metered billing. Doing so would end the sharp practice of arbitrary billing which estimates the power consumption of Nigerians in the generation of their month bills,” read the Facebook post of the senate president, Bukola Saraki, Tuesday morning.
According to Saraki, this was part of the senate’s resolution during their plenary today February 16th.
On his part, Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, described the tariff raise as “ultra-wicked and unconscionable”.
However, justifying NERC’s stance on the hike, Dr Amadi, Sunday, said that the Senate’s attempt to wade into the matter, “is a direct infringement on the independence of the executive to initiate policies.”
“It is a subtle derogation of the powers of the executive. It offends the concept of separation of power.
“The legislature should not interfere and direct executive action. That is clearly against the law. It is unconstitutional.”
Amadi also explained that the NERC lacks the power to suspend or rescind the tariff order issued by its former Board until a new Board was reconstituted.
“Until a new Commission has been reconstituted to consider whether to review or totally suspend the order, nobody anywhere can validly review or suspend the current tariffs.
“It is not wise for the Senate to instruct NERC to stop the tariff. It will create serious regulatory risks across the market value chain. People will begin to look at it and say there is no independence of the industry regulator,” he said.
Further contributing to the development, Senator Dino Melaye, (APC-Kogi west) noted that the latest increase in electricity tariff was the fourth since the privatisation of power.
“We ask for an immediate reversal of the 40 percent increase in electricity tariff because it is arbitrary,” he said.
Also speaking against the new regime, Ekweremadu said, “As a country on life-support we do not need to add to the suffering of the people. For me this tariff increase is ultra-wicked and unconscionable. We must reverse it immediately.”
