The lawmaker representing Oyo South Senatorial districts at the Upper Chamber of the National Assembly, Senator Kola Balogun, has said that Nigerian Senate was not part of the decision to increase in the electricity tariff.
Senator Balogun, who said this during a media parley in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital on Thursday, noted that any policy or decision that will inflict more hardship on the masses will always be rejected by the Senate.
“We are not a rubber-stamp Senate. We were elected to represent our people and we will always do what will make life better for them,” he said.
Senator Balogun, who is a member of Senate Committee on Power disclosed how the Senate rejected the plan to increase electricity tarrif at a meeting organised by the National Electricity Regularly Commission (NERC), in Lagos.
“We told them they may have enough reasons to increase it but they should try and improve on their performances, that people won’t pay for electricity which is not being used,” Senator Balogun added.
He said further that the problem in power sector started with the way and manner the system was unbundled.
Recall that the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) on August 27 said electricity tariff reviews, going forward will only follow service-based principles.
Under these principles, DiSCos will only be able to review tariff rates for customers when they consult with them and commit to increasing the number of hours of supply per day and quality of service.
The PDP lawmaker, however, urged Nigerians to remain calm as the issue will be resolved.
Speaking on Nigeria at 60, Dr Balogun said instead of the constitutional review, the president should bring the report of the 2014 National Conference to the senate for ratification.
The 2014 National Conference was inaugurated by the former President Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan on 17 March 2014 in Abuja, Nigeria. There were about 492 delegates that represented a cross-section of Nigerians including the professional bodies group.
