• Group deplores hike, labels decision bad New Year gift
The Federal Government, yesterday, directed the National Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) to suspend implementation of the new electricity tariff.
In a statement, Minister of Power, Sale Mamman, said the review from N2 to N4 per kWh should wait until the joint ad hoc committee concludes work by month end.
He tweeted: “To promote constructive conclusion of dialogue with labour centres through the joint ad hoc committee, I have directed NERC to stall implementation of the minor review (which adjusted tariff between N2 and N4 per kWh) until the conclusion of the committee’s work by end of January 2021.
Mr Segun Ajayi-Kadir, MAN Director-General, said this, while reacting to the Federal Government directive to the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) to suspend the recent hike in electricity tariff.
Recall that NERC had on Tuesday adjusted upward tariff review from N2.00 to N4.00 for some bands, while citing the partial impact of inflation and movement in foreign exchange rate.
Ajayi-Kadir said the three weeks respite was to accommodate the spirit of the agreement between the Labour Union and the Federal Government on the tariff increase.
“Though there is a possibility that the increase may be reconsidered during this period, there is no doubt that the National Electricity Regulatory Commission is already anticipating an increase.
Only a couple of days ago, Fitch Ratings released its credit ratings for Nigeria, placing Nigeria at a “B” rating. For many who may not understand, a Fitch “B” rating signifies a degrading financial situation and highly speculative financial market in the country in question.
Fitch carries out sovereign credit ratings to determine a country’s ability to meet its debt obligations. Its ratings equally help to provide investors with insight into the level of risk associated with investing in a particular country. What a “B” rating does for Nigeria is signal to investors that risk levels are high, which in turn makes them either take their funds to less speculative markets or require excessive risk protection when investing in Nigeria. Consequently, the cost of funding government projects increases.
TODAY
January 1, 2021
The Management of the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC), yesterday, announced that it has finalised plans to roll out 90,870 meters to customers in its franchise states of Edo, Delta, Ondo and Ekiti in the first quarter of this year.
The Company’s Head of Public Affairs, Mr Tayo Adekule, told journalists in Benin that the meters which were allocated to BEDC by National Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), would be distributed under the National Mass Metering programme (NMMP) starting from Edo.
He said the metering would be done in phases based on a selected distribution transformers covering 90,870 customers over a period of six months, explaining that out of the total number of meters allocated to BEDC, Edo would get 40,995, Delta 22,247, Ondo 19,453 and Ekiti 8,294.
By Nefishetu Yakubu
Benin, Jan. 1, 2021 The Management of Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) says it has concluded plans to roll out no fewer than 90,870 meters to customers in its franchise areas of Edo, Delta, Ondo and Ekiti in the first quarter of 2021.
Mr Tayo Adekule, the BEDC head of Public Affairs, told newsmen in Benin on Friday that the meters were allocated to BEDC by the National Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).
Adekule noted that the meters would be distributed under the National Mass Metering Programme (NMMP), starting from Edo.
He said that the metering would cover four BEDC franchise states on selected distribution transformers covering 90,870 customers over a period of six months.