NLC Hails Court Decision On 45% Electricity Tariff Increase Illegal

The Nigeria Labour Congress has commended the ruling of the Federal High Court, sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos State, which declared the 45 per cent electricity tariff increase illegal.
The NLC gave the commendation on Wednesday while reacting to the ruling in a statement signed by its President, Ayuba Wabba.
Wabba said: “The court ruled today that the tariff increase by the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission was illegal and should be reversed immediately.
“The increase is illegal, unfair, unjustifiable and a further exploitation of the already exploited Nigerians as due process in the extant laws for such an increment was not followed.”
A lawyer had dragged the NERC to court, challenging the legality of the increase in electricity tariff.
The court then held that the implementation of the 45 per cent increase constituted a violation of its interim order and awarded N50,000 cost against NERC.
Wabba said further in the statement: |This is a courageous judgment deserving commendation. We consider it a victory for the ordinary Nigerian who has been oppressed by exploitative bills.”
He then urged the NERC and Distribution Companies to obey the ruling and revert to the old rates without further delay.
“We demand that NERC and DISCOs observe all conditions as contained in the sales agreement before any increase is made,” he added.
The Congress emphasised that there had not been any significant improvement in service delivery and most consumers were not metered in accordance with the signed privatisation memorandum of November 21, 2013.