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NASS, DisCos agree to halt tariff hike

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The leadership of the National Assembly on Monday succeeded in persuading the electricity distribution companies (DisCos) to defer the planned tariff hike till the first quarter of 2021.

The Special Adviser to the Senate President on Media and Publicity, Ola Awoniyi, who disclosed this in a statement, said the NASS leadership would meet President Muhammadu Buhari later on the matter.

Many of the electricity distribution companies had announced last week that the implementation of the new tariff regime would begin on July 1.

The Ikeja Electricity had said in a statement issued by its Head of Corporate Communications, Mr. Felix Ofulue, that the new tariffs, which are service reflective, are end-user rates to be paid for electricity based on the level of service.

READ ALSO: DisCos claim NERC approved decision to hike electricity tariff

Monday’s meeting between the NASS leadership and the electricity distribution companies was attended by the Senate president, Ahmad Lawan, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila and other principal officers of the parliament.

Also at the meeting were the chief executives of the electricity regulatory agencies and the DisCos.

The statement read: “The National Assembly leaders were emphatic at the meeting that the timing of the planned hike was wrong even though there is the need to introduce cost-reflective tariffs for the power sector to attract the much-needed investment.

“In the course of the meeting, the DisCos too admitted that they were not well prepared for the planned hike in tariffs even though they so much desired the increase.

“The meeting agreed to defer the planned hike till the first quarter of next year while the leadership of the National Assembly promised to meet with President Muhammadu Buhari on the issue.”

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