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By Daniel Adaji
The Electricity Consumer Protection Advocacy Centre (ECPAC) has faulted the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Nigerian Independent System Operator (NISO), and electricity distribution companies (DisCos) for holding tariff discussions behind closed doors without the involvement of consumer protection groups.
ECPAC Executive Director, Chief Princewill Okorie, described the development as a violation of consumer rights, stressing that such decisions often tilt in favour of distribution companies to the detriment of ordinary citizens.
Speaking with Pointblanknews.com on Monday, Okorie said, “The NISO meeting that addressed issues between the Enugu Electrify Regulatory Commission and Enugu Distribution Company and Mainpower was really faulty by my own rating because it concerns tariff. So if it concerns tariff that consumers will pay, why will consumer groups not be allowed to observe the meeting? To know the truth besides, that matter has gone public, NERC went to the newspaper to publish and be saying that Enugu electric regulatory commission was wrong in reducing tariff and the regulatory regulatory commission went to a Newspaper too to justify their action. So why will it be discussed in the secret?”
The NISO meeting, held recently in Abuja, to intervene in the ongoing electricity tarrif war in Enugu state.
Okorie argued that the meeting should have been open and inclusive, noting that the exclusion of consumer groups raised suspicions about collusion. According to him, “It should have been an open table meeting to allow consumer groups to witness the presentation from Enugu Electrify regulatory commission (EERC) that justified the reduction of tariff and then that of the Enugu electricity distribution company (EEDC) and Mainpower that justified their insistence as well as NERC, insisting that the tariff should remain the way it was before.”
He accused regulators and government institutions of siding with private sector operators against citizens.
“So trying to do it in secret means that the organizers of the NISO meeting are hiding something in support of the distribution companies and this has always happened. A situation where you see the regulator and government institutions rather than protect the consumers that are citizens, they will now be aligning with private sector distribution companies to oppress and extort citizens as consumers and besides, this violation of the consumer potential rights, is it not a consultation for tariff, shouldn’t consumer protection participate in consultation that is meant to settle argument between the distribution company and the regulator over tariff that will be paid by consumers, this is my take,” he said.
However, the Managing Director of NISO, Engr. Abdu Mohammed, defended the decision, insisting that excluding the public and consumer groups was deliberate. According to him, “the session was designed as a closed-door meeting between the stakeholders—EEDC and EERC.” He added that “if the parties failed to reach an agreement, a public hearing would be convened.”
Tariff reviews remain a contentious issue in Nigeria, where millions of households and businesses already grapple with high inflation, rising energy costs and frequent power outages.
Consumer groups have repeatedly accused NERC and DisCos of prioritising revenue generation over affordability, while regulators argue that higher tariffs are necessary to sustain the electricity market. This tension has made transparency in tariff-setting a long-standing public demand.
As at the time of filing this report, the resolution of the NISO meeting had not been made public.