The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu has kicked against calls to reverse the hike in electricity tariff which was recently introduced.
The Minister maintained that any such moves at reversal will be a setback for the transformation of the energy sector.
Reacting to organized labour protest across the country on Monday, the Minister said the reform is to boost power supply to Nigerians.
Adebayo, therefore, appealed to the organized Labour to see reason with the Government.
Recall that organized labour, made of Nigerian Labour Congress, NLC, and Trade Union Congress, TUC, had on Monday staged a one-day protest. The unions during the protest picketed the office of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, in Abuja. They also shutdown offices of the Distribution Companies, DisCos, across the country.
But speaking to newsmen at Aso Villa after the two-day Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, the Minister assured Labour that the demands placed before the Government were being considered.
He said: “I don’t want us to go back to the situation we were in February and March when we had very low generation. We all felt the impact of this. Whereby the electricity supply was very low and every household, every company, and every institution, felt it. From the little reform that we’ve embarked upon since the beginning of April, we have seen the impact that electricity has improved. And it can only get better.
“My appeal is that they should please not derail or distract our transformation plan for the industry. We have a documented reform roadmap to take us to our desired destination. Where we’re going to have reliable, functional, cost-effective and affordable electricity in Nigeria. It cannot be achieved overnight because this is a decay of almost 60 years, which we are trying to correct.
“Nobody promised us or assured us that the road will be smooth. We knew it was going to be rough, but we must weather the storm, which is going to be temporary.
“It requires a lot of sacrifice from everybody. From the Government’s side, from the people’s side, from the private sector side. So, we must bear this sacrifice for us to have a permanent gain.”
Recall that on April 1, NERC authorized a new tariff regime for Band A electricity consumers. With a hike from N68 per kilowatt/hour to N225 kilowatt/hour.
However, following an outcry from the public, the hike was reduced to N206 kilowatt/hour.
Speaking on the protest by organized labour, Adelabu said he acknowledged the rights of workers and Nigerians to protest and make demands.
“We have heard the demands; we’re going to look at them. We’ll make further engagements. And I believe we’re going to reach a peaceful resolution with the Labour. Because no Government can succeed without the cooperation, collaboration and partnership of Labour unions.
“So, we welcome the peaceful protest and I’m happy that it was not a violent protest. They’ve made their positions known and the Government has taken in their demands and we’re looking at them.
“But one thing that I want to state here is, from the statistics of those affected by the hike in tariff, the people on the road yesterday (Monday), who embarked on the peaceful protests, more than 95 per cent of them are not affected by the increase in the tariff of electricity.
“They still enjoy almost 70 per cent Government subsidy in the tariff they pay. Because the average cost of generating, transmitting and distributing electricity is not less than N180 today.
“A lot of them are paying below N60. So, they still enjoy the Government’s subsidy.
“So, when they say we should reverse the recently increased tariff, sincerely it’s not affecting them,” the Adelabu said.
The Minister, however, appealed to Labour and the entire populace to be patient with the administration. Saying that the Government is implementing its power sector plan for efficiency.
