Joe Ajaero, the President of the Nigerian Labour Congress, stated that Nigeria cannot live with only 4,000 megawatts of electricity.
Ajaero made this statement at the headquarters of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, where organized labor is currently protesting the planned increase in electricity prices.
The NLC President also challenged the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission to inform Nigerians which power plant it intended to build before the end of the year. He mentioned that the Mambilla plant could produce over 3,600 MW of electricity if it was working.
He also expressed that the NERC cannot keep charging fees without providing what they were being paid for, and mentioned that the commission was causing inflation by doing so, which would continue to burden Nigerians.
Therefore, Ajaero called on the Federal Government not just to cancel the planned increase, but also to eliminate all types of taxes that could further impoverish Nigerians.
It should be noted that the NERC announced the increase in electricity tariffs for Band A customers at a press briefing in Abuja on April 3.
The NERC also announced that those affected would now pay N225 per kilowatt-hour, up from the previous rate of N68/kWh.
This increase represented a 240 percent rise.
More details later…
