No plan to increase electricity tariff – Discos

The Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors (ANED) on Wednesday said it had no plan to increase the current tariff being paid by consumers.

Mr Sunday Oduntan, ANED Executive Director, Research and Advocacy, disclosed this in a telephone interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.

He said that the Distribution Companies (DISCOs) had not submitted any proposal to the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) on tariff increase.

“It is not true that we want to increase the tariff by 200 per cent because we do not have any right to do so.

“When you talk about tariff review or increase, it is the responsibility of a regulator and that work belongs to NERC.

“We should understand how the system works because it is the work of the regulator to decide whether there should be tariff review and not DISCOs,’’ said the ANED official.

He urged the National Assembly to reconsider the stoppage of the bond provided by government in order to address the liquidity challenge facing the power sector.

“We are not asking for subsidy but that government should step in and provide a bond,’’ he said.

Oduntan said that the business of electricity distribution were presently not bankable because no bank would lend DISCOs money with the huge deficits in their books.