Prominent human rights lawyer Femi Falana, SAN, has strongly criticized the recent hike in electricity tariffs, stating that the federal government is making Nigerians “pay for the inefficiency and incompetence of those managing the electricity sector.”
Falana, who was a guest on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics, argued that the government had already removed the electricity subsidy in 2022 and was now merely trying to raise funds for cash-strapped electricity distribution companies (DisCos).
“The government needs to apologise to Nigerians for the mismanagement of the electricity sector,” Falana said. He added that the recent tariff increase for Band A consumers, those enjoying 20 hours of power supply daily, cannot be justified under the Electricity Act, 2023.
The senior lawyer further stated that the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) plans to extend the tariff hike beyond Band A consumers to other Nigerians categorised under other bands. Falana vowed to approach the courts to seek redress for Nigerians should the government fail to heed his counsel.
Falana accused the government of being insensitive to the plight of Nigerians, who are still grappling with the economic impact of the removal of the petrol subsidy and the collapse of the foreign exchange windows, two policies introduced by the President Bola Tinubu administration that have resulted in an unprecedented high cost of living.
The human rights lawyer’s comments come as the government seeks to recover an additional N1.4 trillion from the tariff hike, a move he described as an attempt to assist the cash-strapped DisCos, many of which have been taken over by banks and the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON).
