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Nigeria’s power distribution corporations have introduced a new tariff regime that will require peak consumers in Africa’s most populous country to pay 50% more for electricity.
The new price lists will allow distribution corporations to take responsibility for their share inconsistencies and achieve “a moderate return on the capital invested in the company,” the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, based in Abuja, said on its website. 12 hours of daylight or consuming less than 50 kilowatts consistent with the month are exempt from the increase.
“Customers who receive more strength will pay more than those who receive fewer hours of supply,” said Sunday Oduntan, executive secretary of the Nigerian Electricity Distributors Association. “Then, in a way, they will be the rich more than the poor. “
The electricity generation and distribution corporations created during the dismantling of the old state monopoly in 2013 have long complained that the rates are inadequate to recover prices and in the company. They depend on expensive generators. The new tariff regime links higher tariffs with the progressive force offer.
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Gasoline costs also rose by at least 5% in the country’s major cities of more than two hundred million people Wednesday after the regulator approved the higher costs, Lagos’ Punch newspaper reported, which brought witnesses.
Nigeria’s Labour Congress, the country’s largest industry union coalition, rejected the rate increase and accused President Muhammadu Buhari of increasing the already heavy economic burden that citizens have had to make because of the coronavirus pandemic. Phone.
The NLC, as the coalition is known, “completely condemns and rejects any plan to inflict more pain on Nigerians at a time of economic hardship,” Ayuba Wabba, its president, said in a statement sent by email. elegance and the Nigerian people. “