The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project has said it is suing President Bola Tinubu’s administration over the arbitrary increase in electricity tariff.
SaharaReporters earlier reported that the Nigerian government had approved N225 ($0.15) per kilowatt-hour tariff increment for Band A electricity consumers in the country.
Band A are those who enjoy electricity supply for 20 hours per day.
The Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Musliu Oseni, who made this known at a press briefing in Abuja on Wednesday, said the increase will see the customers paying N225 instead of the current N66 kilowatt per hour.
According to Oseni, customers in Band A represent 15 percent of the 12 million electricity customers in Nigeria.
Oseni further said that the NERC had also downgraded some customers from Band A to Band B due to non-fulfilment of the required hours of electricity provided by the electricity distribution companies.
He added that the review will not affect customers on the other bands.
However, SERAP on Wednesday in a statement posted on its X handle condemned the tariff increase, saying it came despite the difficult economic realities in the country and a pending lawsuit on the matter.
The group asked Tinubu’s administration to reverse the hike pending the hearing and determination of the suit it filed on the matter, to protect the integrity of the judicial process and the rule of law.
“We’re suing the Tinubu administration over the arbitrary increase in electricity tariff from N66 to N225 despite the difficult economic realities in the country, and the pending lawsuit on the matter.
“The Tinubu administration must reverse the apparently unlawful increase in electricity tariff from N66 to N225 pending the hearing and determination of the suit we filed on the matter, to protect the integrity of the judicial process and the rule of law,” SERAP wrote.
