The Coalition for Affordable and Regular Electricity has kicked against what it called the provocative hike in electricity tariff for Band A customers, calling on leaders of pro-masses organisations to mobilise workers and community people for a struggle to resist the policy.
The group, while saying the government claimed that the hike was targeted at the rich, said there was hardly any community exclusively for the rich.
Chinedu Bosah, the National Coordinator of CARE, said there are many workers, pensioners and urban poor people who are residents or shop owners in communities that would be adversely affected by the tariff hike.
“Besides, this tariff which affects many big companies will translate into higher costs of production or business and be passed on to workers and the poor as higher prices of goods and services.
“As a result, the current cost of living crises will be further aggravated, potentially throwing more working people into poverty.
“Therefore, the new tariff should be rejected by working people and youth. Coalition for Affordable and Regular Electricity condemns this hike and demands reversal,” he said.
Bosah argued that the lack of stable electricity for industries was one major reason many companies closed down and relocated abroad, contributing to a high unemployment rate.
“This anti-poor Tinubu-led government is all out to protect the profit and greed of a few while it cares less about Nigerian workers and the poor,” he alleged.
He spoke further that the agenda was also to create an apartheid-styled electricity distribution system entrenched in massive exploitation.
“This means communities dominated by the middle class and the rich get 20 hours or more electricity daily while communities dominated by workers and the poor get little or no electricity daily. In this type of unfair, discriminative electricity supply, Band A which constitutes about 15 per cent may get about 50 per cent or more of the electricity supply while 85 per cent of the other consumers may get less than 50 per cent of the electricity supplied.
“The power sector was built and funded by Nigerian taxpayers which include Nigerian workers and the poor, but it is a case of robbing Peter (workers/poor) to pay Paul (the rich),” he remarked.
Bosah, expressed fear that “the outrageous tariff hike announced for Band A consumers is to test the waters and more hikes await consumers on other Bands until the so-called cost-reflective pricing is achieved”.
He argued, “It is clear there is manipulation of subsidy figures and Nigerian working masses should not believe the outrageous figures being brandished. NERC’s chairman, Sanusi Garba said the subsidy for 2024 is N1.6trillion while the Minister of Power, Mr Adebayo Adelabu said it is N2.9tn. Any subsidy declared by the private power companies, NERC and the Ministry of Power is not unreliable”.
