The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, SERAP has just filed a lawsuit against President Muhammadu Buhari for his administration’s failure to reverse the ‘unlawful, unjust, and unreasonable’ hike in electricity tariff.
The Accountability group also accused
the President of declining to prove the spending of public funds as ‘investments and bailouts’ to DisCos (electricity distribution companies) and GenCos (electricity generation companies) since 2005.
The Respondents to the suit include the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), and the Nigeria Bulk Electricity Trading PLC.
Recall that after a reported approval by the NERC, electricity tariffs had been increased across DisCos in the country in December 2022 and a lot of prepaid customers have reportedly confirmed the increase.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Power and NERC have yet to confirm or deny the tariff increase.
In the suit, SERAP argues that constant and uninterrupted access to electricity is a fundamental human right. Electricity is an essential public service but millions of Nigerians keep paying the price for corruption in the electricity sector–staying in darkness.
