The Nigerian government has said there is no going back on the recent electricity tariff hike despite the two-week request issued by the Trade Union Congress calling for the hike reversal.
Florence Eke, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Power, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday while reacting to organized Labour’s ultimatum.
According to her, the justification the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, had given to the Senate public hearing last week remained valid.
She said the government was “not toeing the path of trade unions” on the issue of electricity tariffs.
However, on Sunday, the Trade Union Congress insisted on the two-week ultimatum the organized Labour gave the federal government to reverse the tariff.
Also, the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Joe Ajaero, faulted the tariff hike.
Recall that on April 3, the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission announced the hike in the electricity tariff for Band A customers, getting at least 20 power supplies daily.
Further insight into the tariff hike showed that customers would pay N225 per kilowatt-hour, up from the previous rate of N68/kWh, representing a 240 per cent increase.
Meanwhile, as justification for the hike, the Nigerian government at different fora said it would save the country N1.5 trillion, and only 15 per cent of the 12.8 million electricity customers would be affected.
The Minister, Adelabu, recently said at the Senate hearing that Nigeria would be thrown into darkness in weeks without the electricity tariff hike.
