Bungling Senators and Discos

On February 15 this year , the Nigerian Senate imperially directed the Federal Ministry of Power , Works and Housing and the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Council [ NERC ] to suspend the announced increase in electricity tariffs which were approved by the Electricity regulator NERC in 2015 for implementation on February 1 2016 . In making the order stopping the increase in tariff the senate claimed it was trying to ensure that the Nigerian worker is not short changed by the Discos the electricity distribution companies that took over from NEPA as it were in terms of metering and billing of electricity consumers nation wide

The Senate order portrayed the legislative body as a public spirited institution acting extraordinarily to defend the masses of Nigerians from exploitation by the Discos who were presented as sharks ready to make profit from electricity tariffs by all means . This certainly is not correct and nothing could be further from the truth.

Indeed it is the Senate that is desperate to launder its image and credibility given its leadership election rumpus which has alienated it from the masses especially the labour unions and its shameful purchase of state of the art expensive jeeps for senators at a time when the economy is comatose and oil prices have plummeted, that is looking for any excuse to save its face from the inevitable scorn and anger of the Nigerian masses and workers. In claiming that it is acting to ensure that the Nigerian worker is not short changed the Senate is simply shedding crocodile tears and the Nigerian worker or average electricity consumer is not deceived at all.

By stopping the increased tariff the Senate made three grievous errors. The first is that it has delayed the economic development of Nigeria inherent in the tariff increase as the tariffs are cost reflective and planned pricing peculiar to the electricity industry globally and are not made at the whims and caprices of anybody, not to talk of hitherto self- centred and well known selfish Nigerian lawmakers. The second is that in making the order to stop the increase the Nigerian senate brazenly usurped the statutory duty of NERC the regulatory body saddled by law to approve such pricing regime in the electricity industry according to global best practices and which has already sanctioned and approved the new tariffs. Thirdly the senate in stopping the new increase in tariffs sabotaged the good work of the Minister of Power , Works and Housing , Mr Babatunde Raji Fashola who has staked his reputation and credibility on selling the new tariffs to the Nigerian public which had believed him when he said that the new tariff increase were comparable to a bitter pill like quinine used to cure malaria and the public had willingly bought into the idea before the Senate threw spanner in the works by its crude usurpation of the functions of NERC .

Again, in portraying the Discos as profit sharks the Senate has demonstrated crass ignorance on the workings of the electricity industry especially with regard to the delivery of electricity and power generally. Nigerian discos are not expected to make profit for the first five years in spite of their huge investments in the industry and they got their mandate in 2013 and they are looking forward to 2018 to see some light at the end of the tunnel for their huge expenditure and layout and the regulatory body NERC is monitoring and regulating Discos on this before the bungling senate meddled in what is not in any way its business or even oversight function.

Again the Senate has assumed falsely and illogically that it thinks for Nigerians who do not know what is going in the world. But that is a very grievous mistake on the part of the senate. The world has become a global village and Nigerians know what is going on in the world. They remember the high cost of gsm phones and sim cards when the technology came to Nigeria and the cheap prices they now buy them for their functional use. They can see the same development coming from increased electricity tariffs and are ready to pay as long as the Discos make the electricity available and constant. They cannot wait to see the Discos get their acts right like the gsm companies did before and are not amused by the diversionary and expensive order of the senate in delaying their dream of seeing the discos giving value for money in terms of constant power supply in the very near future or as soon as NERC regulates the DISCOS to achieve their electricity delivery mandate.