The Red Chamber posited that the government should be more concerned with electricity generation and distribution than increasing tariffs.
It also decided to investigate the over N2 trillion that the Minister of Power, Bayo Adelabu, said was required for the electricity tariff in order not to repeat the fuel subsidy scandal.
The minister had told journalists last week that Nigeria could not longer continue to subsidise electricity because of N3 trillion, adding that only indebtedness in the power sector only N450 billion was budgeted for subsidy in 2024, while the ministry requires more than N2 trillion.
Therefore, the Senate has mandated its Committee on Power led by Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, APGA, Abia South, to investigate the the Adelabu’s subsidy claims to avoid the repeat of the fuel subsidy scenario.
Part of the responsibilities of the Committee is to investigate the operations of DISCOs to ascertain the current status of metering and their extent of compliance with relevant legal and regulatory frameworks in service delivery, as well as to direct the NERC to furnish the Committee with any relevant documents on metering of electricity consumers, post-privatisation requirements for the operation of DISCOs, and evidence of regulatory actions taken to ensure statutory compliance by DISCOs.
Also, the Committee is expected to investigate the roles of the Ministry of Power, NERC, and Ziglaks Company in the failed agreement to provide prepaid meters and ensure Nigeria is not shortchanged.
The Committee has also been mandated to engage the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) to come up with a lasting solution to the energy billing system in the country and other related issues therein.
The Senate has also asked its Committee on Power to find out the truth of the matter with regards to the issue of the Federal Government directive and release of funds for mass pre-paid metering, report findings to the senate, and enforce and ensure the judicious utilisation of the 10.5 billion naira penalty imposed on DISCOs.
The Upper House has asked the Committee to direct NERC to ensure the implementation of energy caps by all DISCOS for unmetered customers in the country.
Resolutions of the Senate on Wednesday were a sequel to a motion titled, “Planned Increase in Electricity Tariff and Arbitrary Billing of Unmetered Customers by Distribution Companies (DISCOS), sponsored by Aminu Iya Abbas, PDP, Adamawa Central, and co-sponsored by 10 others.
The committee was directed to submit a comprehensive report for further legislative action within three weeks.
