Any reversal in electricity tariff will
increase the over N300bn funding gap, which operators in the sector are
currently grappling with, the power firms have said.
They also alleged that the previous
government was fond of playing politics with the supply of electricity
as it failed to implement various contractual agreements reached with
the power firms.
The Executive Director, Association of
National Electricity Distributors, Mr. Sunday Oduntan, told journalists
in Abuja on Tuesday that if the court ruling on the reversal of tariff
was implemented, the outcome on the sector and the overall economy would
be more severe than people imagined.
A Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos
recently reversed the 45 per cent increase in electricity tariff by the
Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission in a landmark judgment. The
court declared the increase in tariff as illegal and directed that it
should be reversed immediately.
The court held that the implementation
of the 45 per cent increase in tariff constituted a violation of its
interim order, and awarded N50,000 cost against NERC.
But the Discos and NERC have filed
separate appeals against the ruling and are also seeking for a stay of
execution of the court judgment.
Oduntan explained that the
implementation of the new tariff was meant to commence on November 1,
2013 when the sector was officially privatised, but was delayed till
February 1, 2016.
This delay, according to him, has led to a huge funding gap that is in excess of N300bn.
He said, “Part of the agreement then was
that the newly privatised industry would be given the appropriate
tariff. In the performance agreement that was signed, that tariff was
called cost-reflective tariff, which simply means appropriate pricing
for the product. But the problem that we have had ever since then is
that two and half years down the line, the government has not fulfilled
its pledge.”
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