The House of Representatives has directed the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) to halt the rollout of the new electricity tariff.
The decision was reached after the adoption of a motion of urgent public importance, spearheaded by Nkemkanma Kama, a lawmaker from the Labour Party (LP) representing Ebonyi state.
Recall that on April 3, NERC approved an increase in electricity tariffs for customers belonging to Band A, which led to legislative action.
Customers in this category, who receive 20 hours of electricity per day, were supposed to start paying N225 per kilowatt (kW), a significant increase from the previous tariff of N66.
Meanwhile, yesterday, during a hearing at the Senate Committee on Power, Adebayo Adelabu, Minister of Power, defended the tariff hike by stating that the Federal Government could no longer afford to provide subsidies on power.
He said for the sector to be revived, the government needs to spend about $10 billion annually in the next 10 years.
Adelabu stated that the electricity sector is attracting more investors due to the increase in electricity tariff for Band A customers.
The house resolved to set up a special committee made up of the Committees on Power, Commerce and National Planning to convene a public hearing on price regulation.
The lawmaker resolved to appoint well-regarded former regulator as technical consultant to the house to develop templates for determination of the legality, reasonableness of the procedure adopted by NERC in approving the tariff increase and establishing the performance benchmarks for the Discos.
In his ruling, the Speaker of the house, Rep. Tajudeen Abbas said that the relevant committees should ensure compliance.