The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has ordered distribution companies to suspend the implementation of the new tariffs which was introduced on the 1st of September.
This means for the next two weeks, Nigerians will be paying the exact tariff they paid for electricity about four weeks ago.
This is one of the agreements the federal government reached with organised labour on Monday to suspend the nationwide strike and protest planned by the unions.
According to the tariff suspension order signed by the Chairman of the commission, James Momoh, and the Commissioner for Legal, Licensing and Compliance, Dafe Akpeneye, “This order shall take effect from September 28, 2020, and shall cease to have effect on October 11, 2020.
“Following a joint communique issued by the Federal Government of Nigeria (“FGN”) and the labour unions, the FGN agreed that the recent review in electricity tariffs would be suspended by the commission for a period of 14 days to further consultations and finalisation of negotiations between the parties.
“All tariffs for end-use customers and market obligations of the DisCos during the 14-day suspension shall be computed on the basis of rates applicable as at August 31, 2020.”
The affected DisCos are the Electricity Distribution Companies in Abuja, Benin, Enugu, Ibadan, Jos, Kaduna, Kano, Eko, Port Harcourt, Yola and Ikeja Electric Plc,
The NERC had on September 1 approved the Multi-Year Tariff Order 2020 for the 11 successor electricity distribution companies to work efficiently and recover the full cost of their activities.
The regulatory commision said the hike did not affect consumers who do not get daily supply of electricity cumulatively for 12 hours a day for a month.
