The presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 general election, Mr Peter Obi, has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to suspend the proposed hike in the electricity tariff.
Obi, who made the call at Nibo community in Awka South Local Government Area of Anambra State on Saturday, during the 50th Priestly Golden Jubilee Anniversary of Very Rev. Msgr. Sylvester Nwankwo Ora Mgbemfulu said the move will create more difficulties for Nigerians, mostly the manufacturers.
According to him, now is not the best time to add more difficulties to the already existing hardship in the country.
“Nigerians are already overburdened with hard times. They needed relief things to work with relatively before the hike.
So, my position as a typical Nigerian is that the hike in the electricity tariff is coming at the wrong time and should be suspended, Obi maintained.
The former Anambra State Governor spoke to the Nigerian Tribune through his media aide, Dr. Valentine Obienyem, during the occasion.
The celebrant, Very Rev. Mgbemfulu, who also spoke in the same vein, appealed to the President to suspend the plan as soon as possible.
He also urged the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC)-led federal government not to politicise the current social-economic challenges confronting the country at the moment.
In his notification statement, the information and communication officer of the Enugu Electricity Development Company (EEDC), Mr Emeka Ezeh, said the adjustment did not apply to all categories of customers, but especially those on Service Band A who enjoy a daily minimum of 20 hours of electricity supply, and that customers on Service Bands B-E remain frozen.
The Nigerian Tribune had earlier reported that the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has approved an increase in the electricity tariff to N225 ($0.15) per kilowatt-hour from N68. This is a 300 per cent hike and takes effect on April 1, 2024.
According to the Vice Chairman of NERC, Musiliu Oseni, who made the announcement in Abuja during the week, it will be for urban consumers, also known as Band A consumers in the country.
