The Upper Chamber of the National Assembly, on Tuesday, directed the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, to suspend the 40 per cent increment in electricity tariff which took effect on February 1, 2016. The instruction is to take immediate effect.

President of the Senate, Dr. Bukola Saraki says who posted this information on his official Facebook wall on Tuesday, explained that the move “is necessary because any increase in cost, without the necessary improvement in service delivery by the power companies is unacceptable.”

According to Dr Saraki, the Senate believes that, “the power distribution companies must work to ensure that every establishment in Nigeria is provided with capabilities for metered billing. Doing this would end the sharp practice of arbitrary billing, which estimates the power consumption of Nigerians in the generation of their monthly bills.”

The House of Representatives had even before the new tariff came into force requested NERC to suspend same to no avail. This is as the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, SAN, maintained that there is no going back on the electricity tariff increase.

Last week, the organized labour and civil society organizations held nationwide protest rallies against the tariff hike.