The Tinubu administration since it came on board has never hidden its desire to remove anything subsidy. His subsidy is gone speech and the floating of naira are two classical examples. However, since the removal of subsidy which the administration described as conduit pipe for siphoning government’s funds, the lives of average Nigerians have gone from bad to worse. Inflation is over 30% which has reduced the purchasing power of Nigerians, millions of whom had been condemned to poverty. While subsidy removal has freed more funds to three tiers of government, evidence has proven that there is no commensurate infrastructural development across the country. The removal of subsidy has resulted in increased pump price of fuel and cost of doing business. Though power sector has been privatised more than a decade ago, Nigerians have been paying for darkness as the Discos have failed to live up to expectations.
The recent decision to remove electricity subsidy has come at a wrong time. With only 44% metered customers, Nigerians have thought that, government through NERC, will provide adequate meters and improve power generation and distribution in the country. There is nothing wrong in ensuring cost reflective tariff among the numerous energy consumers in the country. The categorisation of customers into different “bands” by NERC can be seen as a good development. But the question begging for answer is: will the new plan address the erratic power supply? For instance, under the NERC new tariff plan, customers on band ‘A’ will enjoy 20 hours power supply at N225kwh as against N68/kwh.
The band ‘A’ customers which include elites, banks, factories can shoulder the new tariff, but it is an alarming burden on the average Nigerian. Under the new tariff plan, 24 hours of electricity per day will cost a staggering N5,400, amounting to an unbearable monthly total of N162,000 and a yearly total of N1,971,000. These exorbitant amounts are simply unaffordable to the majority of Nigerians. The new tarrif regime will also see factories raising cost of production. Those companies have no options than to pass the burden to the end users. According to the NERC, the new tarrif will affect 15 percent customers who enjoy 40% power supply. But at the end, millions of Nigerians will be worse off.
Ibrahim Mustapha, Pambegua, Kaduna State
