The Ikeja branch of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has given the federal government and electricity distribution companies (Discos) a seven-day ultimatum to reverse the old electricity tariff or face a lawsuit.

At a news conference on Tuesday, the branch chairman, Seyi Olawunmi, described the increase in the electricity tariff by almost 300 per cent as unreasonable and insensitive.

He said the National Electric Regulation Commission (NERC) order regarding the tariff hike was not in line with the current economic realities of an average Nigerian.

He said the branch would seek appropriate remedies in court if the federal government and concerned individuals failed to reverse the illegal electricity tariffs within seven days.

Mr Olawunmi noted that NERC issued a new multi-year tariff order (MYTO 2024) in December 2023, which indicated a purported cost-reflective tariff chargeable by the various Discos.

He explained that the federal government reportedly absorbed a large chuck of the electricity tariff under a subsidy arrangement.

The chairman said the purported subsidy had reportedly been removed by the federal government, leading to an over 300 per cent increase in the electricity tariff payable by the end-user.

“We view this sudden astronomical increase in the end-user tariff, irrespective of the technical arguments preferred in justification, as utterly exploitative and non-reflective of the current economic hardship that the masses are going through.

“The inflation and depreciation of the naira have affected their services, and it is practically impossible to remain on the old tariff, and electricity in Nigeria is not well priced.

“We, therefore, demand an immediate stop to the illegal implementation of the N225 per kWh imposed on the so-called band A customers at the discretion of both the DisCos and NERC without any empirical basis.

“The classification into band A, B, C, D, or E should be scrapped, and it is either the DisCos are guaranteeing 24 hours supply for all or they are not,” said Mr Olawunmi.

He said the government and the Nigerian people can not continue to subsidise their inefficiency in the name of band A, band B, band C, etc.

“If the government fails to reverse the illegal hike within seven days, we will be left with no choice but to seek appropriate remedies in the court of law,” the NBA chairman added. 

(NAN)