The House of Representatives on Wednesday mandated its Committee on Power to investigate the recent increase from N500 to N750 in service charge by power distribution companies in Nigeria.
The resolution followed a motion moved by Hon. Hassan Saleh (PDP-Benue), which was adopted without debate.
According to Saleh, the upward review of the service charge is part of the tariff consumers were expected to pay to encourage new companies bidding for the distribution companies to break even.
He, however, claimed that the companies had further reviewed, unilaterally, the service charge to N1,500 while canvassing for further review.
The legislator said that following complaints by consumers against the upward review of the charge, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission appealed to Nigerians for understanding.
The House has also mandated its committees on privatisation and commercialisation, petroleum resources (downstream) and public procurement to investigate the planned sale of the four Nigerian refineries by government.
The committee is expected to report back to the House within two weeks.
The resolution was sequel to a motion moved by Hon. Hassan El-Badawy (APC-Yobe), which was adopted without debate.
According to El-Badawy, the resolution becomes imperative because of the announcement by the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Deziani Alison-Madueke, on the sale of the refineries.
He said that Alison-Madueke made the announcement in an interview with Bloomberg Television in London on November 18.
El-Badawy said that the minister’s action seemed to be in isolation of what the regulatory authorities had resolved on the matter.
He added that Alison-Madueke’s action was in conflict with the ongoing legislative action that sought to provide a legal framework for the sale of the refineries.
The legislator said that it would be unreasonable to sell the refineries, given the huge amount of money spent on their turnaround maintenance.
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