New electricity tariff: Ndume wants power privatisation revoked

The Senate Leader, Ali Ndume (APC-Borno South), has expressed displeasure over the recent hike in electricity tariff, calling for the revisiting of the privatisation process and its possible revocation.
Ndume told newsmen in Abuja on Sunday that the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission had no reason to increase the tariff.
The senator said the companies bought the nation’s electricity infrastructure for almost nothing and rather than investing in them, were calling for hike in tariff.
He said: “These people took over these companies for peanuts and they have not invested.
“I have not seen how they will just come and be charging people indiscriminately like that.
“This is not a competitive market where you say the market forces determine the price.
“They just want to take advantage of Nigerians.
“I am against that completely.
“In fact, I am against the privatisation completely.
“Because there is no competition, they want to start charging whatever they like.
“In fact, left to me, privatisation of the power sector should be revisited and revoked,’’ he said.
Ndume said that although the NERC had power to set prices, the recent increase was indiscriminate.
He said the laws establishing the commission might also have to be revisited if the NERC continued to increase prices while the common man suffers.
He said: “Even if it is the Senate that gave the power to those people to fix the price, it is wrong and even if I was part of it, I was wrong.
“If I can, I will cancel their power to fix prices.
“How can they be charging us so much?”
Ndume recalled that the new electricity tariff regime, which took effect on February 1, had generated a lot of controversies with labour unions across the country threatening to go on strike.
Meanwhile, the lawmaker has said he supported the recent N50 stamp duty introduced by the government.
Ndume said government needed to source money through legitimate tax to be able to finance most of its projects.
NAN.