The Electricity Discos in Nigeria have announced a price rise for several electricity meter models, this will be the second time this is happening in four months.
Nigerians have vehemently said No to the price hike, calling it a “wicked” move in light of the present national economic situation faced by many in the country.
The price of a single-phase meter has increased from around N117,000 to as much as N149,800 indicating a 28.03% increase. The price hike was announced on their official X handle on Wednesday and is set to take immediate effect across all discos across the country.
It’s important to note that the price increment varies across different discos in the country. Price ranges from N123,130.53 to N147,812.5 for single-phase meters and N206,345.65 to N266,600 for three-phase meters.
The reason for the increase was that Meter asset providers have argued that the NERC-approved price in August was less than the meters’ landing or production costs. This resulted in the Discos’ meter application portals being shut down because vendors refused to offer the product at a lower cost.
However, a lot of Nigerians have turned against this development.
Princewill Okorie, Executive Director of the Electricity Consumers Protection and Advocacy Centre, had a lot to say about the price hike.
“What do you want me to say? They keep increasing the meter price, why are they wicked? N200bn was earmarked for the NMMP that was to be implemented in three phases. Only the pilot phase of N59bn was implemented. And what the 11 Discos could pay back was only N7bn. What did they use the rest of the money for?
“Since after that N59bn, what has happened to the rest of the money when you removed N59bn from N200bn? Are they not the same people who are paying for this meter that are paying for the shortfall as part of their electricity bills? The regulator increased the tariff, saying they wanted the Discos to get money to pay back the loan. Who are the people that got the meters?
He further added, “Let them stop taking Nigerians as fools. The meter acquisition fund, what did they use it for? So, it’s not justified at all. I don’t know why they want to keep inflicting punishment on Nigerian consumers. Let them account for the N200bn for the national mass metering programme.”
“in other countries, how much is a meter? What is the price of a one-phase meter or three-phase compared to what they are asking Nigerians to pay?”
He further emphasized that the Discos received N59bn from the N200bn allocated for the National Mass Metering Programme in 2020, saying they only paid back N7bn.
So where is the remaining money?
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