By Aduragbemi Omiyale
Nigerians may suffer more pain, especially customers of a leading energy distribution company, Ikeja Electric, as the firm has silently increased its electricity tariff.
On Tuesday, citizens of the country woke up to the news of a fresh hike in the pump price of petrol from N500 per litre to N617 per litre.
According to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, this move was due to the prevailing market conditions, particularly the rise in the price of crude oil in the global market and the weakening of the Naira against the US Dollar at the currency market.
Just as many are still groaning over this and strategising ways to adapt to the new realities, some customers of Ikeja Electric Plc have been slapped with another increase in the cost of electricity per kilowatt hour.
Recall that DisCos had planned to increase the tariff from July 1, 2023, but this was dismissed. It was claimed that there was never such a plan in the pipeline.
Before the proposed increment, customers on Band B were charged about N45 per kilowatt hour, especially in early May 2023, but later in the month, it was raised to about N65 per kilowatt.
Business Post gathered that on Wednesday, July 19, 2023, a customer of Ikeja Electric was charged about N70 per kilowatt for electricity exclusive of VAT, but inclusive of the 7.5 per cent VAT; the price was about N75 per kilowatt.
A few days ago, it was reported that the electricity distribution firms in the country formally wrote a letter to the industry’s regulator, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), seeking its approval to increase tariffs.
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Adedapo Adesanya