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NERC, Discos face contempt charges for electricity tariff hike

By on February 8, 2016

A Lagos-based lawyer, Toluwani Adebiyi, has initiated fresh contempt proceedings against the Chairman of the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission over the February 1, 2016 increase in electricity tariff.

Also cited for contempt by the lawyer are the chief executive officers of all the electricity distribution companies in the country.

The lawyer claimed that a May 28, 2015 order made in his favour by Justice Mohammed Idris of a Federal High Court in Lagos, restraining the alleged contemnors form hiking electricity tariff, was still subsisting.

He claimed that the Chairman of NERC and the Disco CEOs were liable to be jailed for allegedly disobeying the said order, which the court had said would subsist until the determination of a suit filed by Adebiyi to challenge the electricity tariff hike.

The application for contempt proceedings is expected to be heard on February 11.

Adebiyi had in May last year approached Justice Idris, praying the court to stop any hike in electricity tariff until there has been a meaningful and significant improvement in power supply to at least 18 hours in a day in most Nigerian communities.

He filed the suit in May last year following the announcement of proposed hike by a former Chairman of the NERC, Dr. Sam Amadi.

The lawyer had contended that the move by NERC to increase electricity tariff in the country would “foist further hardship on Nigerians.”

According to him, any such increment in electricity tariff was unjustifiable in the face of poor or erratic supply of electricity by the distributing companies.

Among other things, the applicant sought an order of the court to mandate the NERC to make available to all Nigerians, prepaid meters within a maximum time frame of two years.

This, he said, would curb “the throat-cutting, indiscriminate estimated bill, which must be devoid of the arbitrary service charge, but only chargeable on power consumers.”

In an affidavit filed in support of the suit, the applicant lamented, “Businesses have collapsed, industries have closed down, and residents cannot sleep comfortably at night due to inefficiency of our power industry.

“Companies and commercial houses are groaning under throat-cutting power bill which they are paying for, yet not getting the benefit for such payment.

“Bringing further increase amidst this tangled web of hardship and without any improvement in power supply will be highly unjustifiable and will be an economic burden on the Nigerian populace.

“It is totally absurd and not for the good of the people, and therefore must be stopped.”
[Punch]