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The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) has frowned at the recent approval by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) to increase electricity tariff in the country
The association however called for the downward review of the tarrif for the electricity distribution companies (DisCos) which resulted in about 250 percent increase, saying no manufacturers can survive such a huge increase at a go.
Director General of MAN, Segun Ajayi-Kadir, made this call at an interactive session at the 2024 pre-Annual General Meeting (AGM) media briefing in Lagos.
Recall that MAN took NERC and the DisCos to court over the matter, but the case was struck out by a Federal High Court, for abuse of court process.
According to him, “NERC and the DisCos are wrong because they could not have increased the tariff by 250 percent, nobody survives that. And this is evident in the fact that the federal government is giving a discount of 50 percent to universities and hospitals. If it was acceptable, government wouldn’t do that. And manufacturers are also deserving of discount like these institutions because we create jobs, we pay taxes, and we are responsible for improvement in exports that Nigeria has.
“We are consulting with our counsel and our members. Already, some members are very agitated and worried about the survival of their businesses. Some of them are even saying that we should just shut down and allow our workers to go home, may be government will listen.”
