Court Declares NERC’s Hike In Electricity Tariff Illegal
A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has annulled the increment in electricity tariff by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).
Trial judge, Justice Mohammed Idris in his judgment in the suit by a human rights lawyer, Mr. Toluwani Adebiyi, described NERC’s action as “procedurally ultra vires, irrational, irregular and illegal”.
The court, relying on Sections 31, 32 and 76 of the Electricity Power Sector Reform Act (EPSRA) 2005, in deciding the substantive suit, held: “NERC acted outside the powers conferred on it by the Act and failed to follow the prescribed procedure.
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“NERC has not shown that it acted in due obedience to the prescribed procedures and that there is no evidence that NERC complied with Section 76(6) (7) and (9) of the EPSRA Act.
“Of all the legal requirements, it appeared the only one complied with by NERC was that it announced the new tariff in the newspapers.
“It is clear from the affidavit evidence that the increase in tariff was done by NERC in defiance of the order of this court made on May 28, 2015, which directed parties in the case to maintain the status quo.
“The law is that every person upon whom an order is made by a court of competent jurisdiction must obey it, unless and until the order is discharged and set aside on appeal.”
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In a swift reaction, the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) applauded the judgment, saying “The increase is illegal, unfair, unjustifiable and a further exploitation of the already exploited Nigerians as due process in the extant laws for such an increment was not followed.
“This is a courageous judgment deserving commendation. We consider it a victory for the ordinary Nigerian who has been oppressed by exploitative bills,” the Congress boss, Ayuba Wabba added.
Meanwhile, the House of Representatives called on the Federal Government to halt any tariff by 100 per cent in the country.
“It is a scam as Nigerians pay heavily without obligation on the part of the DisCos… they do not have the financial capacity or the technical know how. When you talk about investors, you consider institutional investors, not portfolio businessmen,” Majority Leader, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila said.
