The national assembly says it has convinced electricity distribution companies (DisCos) to halt the proposed increase in tariff for power consumers.
In a statement, Ola Awoniyi, spokesman of Senate President Ahmad Lawan, said during a meeting on Monday, the leadership of the legislative chamber agreed with the DisCos to suspend the planned increase.
In January, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) had announced that there would be an upward review of electricity tariff across the country from April 1.
However in March, it directed electricity distribution companies (DisCos) to suspend the proposed tariff increase due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sale Mamman, minister of power, later said the proposed hike will take effect from July.
At the meeting attended by other stakeholders in the power sector, the leadership of the national assembly was said to have convinced the DisCos to defer the plan till the first quarter of 2021 because of the effect of COVID-19 pandemic.
”The agreement here is that there is not going to be any increase in the tariffs on July 1st,” Lawan was quoted as saying.
“The speaker and I, we are going to take appropriate action and meet with the president. We are in agreement here that there is no question on the justification of the increase but the time is simply not right and appropriate measures need to be put in place
“So, between now and the first quarter of next year, our task will be to work together with you to ensure that we put those blocks in place to support the eventual increase in tariffs.”
