The Network of Civil Society Organisations in Borno State has appealed to the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission to exempt Borno State from the payment of the recently hiked electricity tariff.
Speaking to newsmen in Maiduguri on Tuesday, the network described the exemption as necessary due to the state’s status of recovery from the ruins of the Boko Haram insurgency.
“It came to us as a great shock, the recent announcement by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission on the increase in electricity tariff without putting into account the current predicaments faced by the people of Borno State,” the Executive Director of the network, Bulama Abiso, grieved.
“We are appealing to the Federal Government, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, the Generation Companies, Transmission Companies of Nigeria, the Borno State Government and all other relevant stakeholders to support the reversal of this anti-people policy, considering the current recovery status of the state,” Abiso said.
The network expressed dismay over, allegedly, the Yola Electricity Distribution Company (which also covers Borno State) distributing electricity bills for February and March to households without commensurate power supply.
“This concern is affecting every household on the estimated billing system occasioned by abrupt disruption of free installation of the metering systems that ought to have been distributed but are now alleged to be sold at exorbitant prices.
“Consequently, we are requesting that YEDC resumes the free distribution and installation of the metering system to every household in Borno State,” the Borno CSOs helmsman appealed.
The network called on the YEDC to also enhance its distribution capacity to sufficiently meet the demands of the metropolis.
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