SIR: Regulatory agencies in Nigeria, apart from a handful have done dismal jobs in regulation and consumer protection. Many are unaware of their responsibilities or are negligent. This leaves the Nigerian consumer in situation where he has no choice and therefore left to the vagaries of the market. The telecommunications revolution was successful due to the efforts of the regulator, in this case, the NCC and its relationship with consumers and telecoms operators. But the electricity reform seems to be taking a direction of its own, one which has little regards for the consumer and sees them as sheep to be sheared. The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission NERC, seems intent on taking an unknown route despite the myriad examples of how not to do things,
The Policy somersaults of NERC have left a bitter taste in mouths of consumers, the unfulfilled promises and the failures which are fruits of inadequate planning. When the NERC came up with the Multi-Year-Tariff-Order MYTO 2, is was to allow for sustainable generation of electricity and for adequate metering so as to avoid exploitation. Nigerians agreed with them and were expecting to see those promises delivered but the only thing we saw was outrageous bills in the midst of dismal improvement in electricity supply. Most consumers woke up to find out that their electricity charges and risen by about 50% and their consumption rates by the same. This would be no problem if the figures were correct, but has power generation increased by 50% since June 2012 and where is the extra consumption coming from?
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