Another electricity tariff hike? Tinubu government has no shame at all

The news is everywhere today — the Federal Government is planning another electricity tariff increase in phases, and Nigerians are rightfully angry. This is coming from the Special Adviser on Power Infrastructure, Sadiq Wanka himself, who said the increment will affect all customer bands. The presidency tried to deny it over the weekend, but nobody is buying that denial. We have seen this script before.

Let us look at the facts. Our electricity generation is still stuck between 3,500 and 4,500 megawatts, exactly where it was in 2023. We have over 200 million people and we cannot even power a fraction of them properly. In April 2024, they increased Band A tariffs by almost 300 percent, promising at least 20 hours of light daily. How many Band A customers actually get that? Ask anyone in Ibadan or Port Harcourt. We are buying transformers with our own money, only for the DisCos to take ownership of them. The whole thing is a racket.

Mr. Kunle Olubiyo of the Nigeria Consumer Protection Network said it best: Nigeria does not even have a functioning electricity market. The privatisation has failed because the government refuses to properly fund its subsidy obligations while the system is riddled with leakages and manual metering that allows for inflated claims. If the government can reform the foreign exchange and petroleum sectors, why can they not apply the same seriousness to power? Or is it that they simply do not care about the suffering of ordinary Nigerians? Be honest — when last did you have 20 hours of light in one day?