Aba Power, Nigeria’s newest electricity distribution company (DisCo), has spoken on some media reports that an Abia State High Court has voided the new electricity tariff from the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) for its customers or that of any of the other 11 DisCos in the country.
NERC ordered a new tariff for Aba Power effective January 1, 2025, on December 30, nine months after it had approved a new tariff for the other DisCos.
Speaking on the veracity of the reports, the power utility declared the publications false.
“It is untrue and completely misleading”, asserted Edise Ekong, the Aba Power Communication and Brand Manager, in a statement this afternoon “for the online media to claim that Mr. Justice Enyinnaya Ikpeazu of the Isiala Ngwa High Court in Abia State has directed Aba Power to revert to the old tariff”.
“An amorphous group called the Aba Electricity Consumers Forum went to the Abia State High Court in protest against the new NERC order, but the judge ruled that the group is unregistered and, therefore, unknown to the law.
“It has no legal standing.
“Rather than tell the public the court’s decision, the group went into a propaganda overdrive to mislead electricity consumers so that they will not pay the new tariff”.
Ekong also explained that the court directed the promoters of the unregistered group led by one Ike Opigwe to appear before it as individual electricity consumers.
The Aba Power senior manager urged customers to continue to pay the new rate in the Aba Ring-fenced Area covering nine of the 17 local government areas in Abia State, which “took effect almost one year after the rest of the country began to pay the new electricity tariff.
“This is the right thing to do because the Federal Government has already announced that there will be a significant increase in tariff anytime from now, perhaps this month.
“The significant increase is a major step by the Federal Government in its desire to end the huge subsidies to both generation and distribution companies amounting to over six trillion naira despite their privatization since November 2013”.
Ekong observed that Aba Power is the only DisCo that has not benefitted from any subsidy, adding that the generation arm of the Geometric Power Integrated Power Group has not benefitted from the government’s financial support either.
“We are delighted that we are widely considered a role model in the electricity business in Nigeria”, remarked the Aba Power spokesman.
The souls of our ancestors will now rest in peace!