By John Ogunsemore
The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has vehemently rejected Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu’s call on Nigerians to prepare for a fresh hike in electricity tariffs.
Adelabu, in a Monday statement signed by his spokesperson, Bolaji Tunji, said it is unsustainable for the Federal Government to continue to subsidise electricity, noting that it presently has an outstanding debt exceeding N4 trillion owed to power generating companies (GenCos) for overdue subsidy payments.
However, in a statement issued on Monday, President of the Senate of NANS, Usman Adamu, expressed profound displeasure with the minister’s repeated calls for tariff hike, which he said failed to address the root causes of the crisis bedevilling the power sector.
Adamu described the minister’s call as insensitive to the plight of Nigerians.
He said, “At a time when Nigerians are already gasping under the crushing weight of economic hardship, exacerbated by inflation, stagnant wages, and erratic power supply, it is not only insensitive but an outright dereliction of duty for the Honourable Minister to repeatedly prescribe tariff increments as the sole remedy for inefficiencies in the power sector.
“It is most unfortunate that a man entrusted with such a strategic national portfolio can reduce the complexities of our power woes to a monotonous refrain of ‘tariff increase.’.
“If the Honourable Minister’s only strategy for improving power delivery is to periodically hike tariffs, then his service is a tragic emblem of administrative inertia and cognitive bankruptcy.
“Governance demands ingenuity and not perfunctory fiscal adjustments that do nothing to improve supply but everything to deepen the woes of citizens.”
The Senate President added, “It is particularly appalling that the Minister has failed in his fundamental obligation of oversight. Distribution Companies (DisCos), emboldened by weak regulation, have been robbing the Nigerian people blind with estimated billing, epileptic supply, and outright disregard for service-based obligations.
“Under Band C and D, consumers are promised a minimum threshold of daily electricity supply, yet these benchmarks are consistently violated without consequence.
“The silence and inaction of the Minister in the face of these daily infractions suggest either complicity or catastrophic negligence.
“Consequently, we are constrained to ask: what precisely is the Honourable Minister doing to reform the DisCos? What innovative blueprint has he advanced to stabilise and decentralise the national grid?
“What strategic interventions has he initiated to make renewable energy more accessible? None. Instead, we are bombarded with repetitive, anti-people pronouncements that suggest a complete disconnection from the realities of average Nigerians.”
Adamu charged Adelabu to engineer bold, systemic reforms that would ensure transparency, reliability, and affordability in power distribution rather than seeking to increase the suffering of Nigerians through tarriff hike.
He warned that the student community, which constitutes a critical mass of this country’s population, would not stand idly by while Adelabu’s ministry continues to impose economic torment on the people under the guise of “cost-reflective” tariffs.
“We demand performance and innovation; results, not recycled excuses.
“Accordingly, if the Honourable Minister cannot fulfil the fundamental requirements of his office, he should do the honourable thing and resign, rather than continually proposing tariff increases as the only solution,” Adamu added.