Electricity Tariff: We May Just Shut Down & Send Our Worker Home -MAN

The about 250% increase in electricity tariff is so biting on manufacturers that some of them are considering shutting down operations and sending all their workers home.

This is even as the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) has reiterated calls for the downward review of the tariff.

The Eagle reports that the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) recently did an upward review of electricity tariffs for the manufacturing sector with operators stating that increase would put them in even more daunting situation.

The Director General of MAN, Segun Ajayi-Kadir, reiterated this challenge before journalists yesterday while briefing on the 2024 pre-Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the association.

He said the modalities for the increase needed to be reviewed as not to force more manufacturing companies to shut down.

Arguing that the NERC and the Electricity Distribution companies (DISCOs) should not have increased the electricity tariff by 250 percent, he said it was difficulty for companies to survive under such.

“This is evident in the fact that the federal government is giving a discount of 50 percent to universities and hospitals.

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“If it was acceptable, government wouldn’t do that. And manufacturers are also deserving of discount like these institutions because we create jobs, we pay taxes, and we are responsible for improvement in exports that Nigeria has.

“We are consulting with our counsel and our members. Already, some members are very agitated and worried about the survival of their businesses. Some of them are even saying that we should just shut down and allow our workers to go home, may be government will listen.”

According to the manufacturers, the sector is as critical as could be for a growing economy lie Nigeria, where job creation, crime containment and youth development are important.

IF it is so, he added, then the government should extend the same consideration granted to universities and hospitals by giving them 50 percent to manufacturers.