The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has commended the ruling of the Federal High Court, sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos which declared the 45 per cent electricity tariff increase illegal.
The NLC gave the commendation on Wednesday while reacting to the ruling in a statement signed by its President, Ayuba Wabba.
Wabba said "the
court ruled today that the tariff increase by the Nigeria Electricity
Regulatory Commission (NERC) was illegal and should be reversed
immediately.
"The increase is illegal,
unfair, unjustifiable and a further exploitation of the already
exploited Nigerians as due process in the extant laws for such an
increment was not followed.''
Civil society group had dragged NERC to court, challenging the legality of the increase in electricity tariff.
The
court then held that the implementation of the 45 per cent increase
constituted a violation of its interim order, and awarded N50,000 cost
against NERC.
"This is a courageous judgment
deserving commendation. We consider it a victory for the ordinary
Nigerian who has been oppressed by exploitative bills,'' the Congress boss added.
He then urged NERC and Distribution Companies (DISCOs) to obey the ruling and revert to the old rates without further delay.
"We demand that NERC and DISCOs observe all conditions as contained in the sales agreement before any increase is made,'' he added.
The
Congress emphasised that there had not been any significant improvement
in service delivery and most consumers were not metered in accordance
with the signed privatisation memorandum of Nov. 21, 2013.
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