Atiku vows to abolish five-band electricity tariff system, accuses Tinubu of broken promise

Atiku vows to abolish five-band electricity tariff system, accuses Tinubu of broken promise

Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), has accused President Bola Tinubu of failing to fulfil his campaign promise to provide Nigerians with steady electricity.

In a statement issued on Sunday by Phrank Shaibu, spokesperson of the ADC presidential campaign council, Atiku also pledged to abolish the existing five-band electricity system and replace it with a framework he described as fair, transparent and affordable.

Dele Alake, spokesperson of the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential campaign council, had argued that Tinubu’s 2023 campaign promise on electricity was being quoted out of context.

Alake said Tinubu had promised to provide Nigerians with electricity and end estimated billing but added that voters should not re-elect him if he failed to deliver unless he gave adequate reasons for his inability to do so.

He also argued that the president’s performance should be assessed alongside his administration’s interventions in the power sector, including the Electricity Act, 2023, the presidential metering initiative and a bond programme to settle legacy debts owed to power generation and gas companies.

‘NIGERIANS ARE BILLED FOR ELECTRICITY THEY CAN’T RELY ON’

Responding, Atiku accused the ruling party of celebrating policies and financial interventions while Nigerians continued to grapple with unreliable electricity.

“The APC should spare Nigerians the spectacle of celebrating paperwork while homes and businesses remain in darkness,” he said.

“After three and a half years, families still struggle to keep their homes lit. Traders and small business owners spend scarce resources on alternative power yet struggle to keep their businesses alive. Nigerians are billed for electricity they cannot rely on.

“President Tinubu promised steady power and an end to estimated billing. That promise has not been kept.”

Atiku also criticised the five-band electricity tariff structure, which categorises consumers into bands A, B, C, D and E, with rates varying across distribution companies.

 

He said some Band A customers pay about N209.50 per unit before value-added tax (VAT), adding that consumers in all five bands continued to face unreliable electricity supply.

“Yet across every band, the same hardship endures: the power fails, but the bill arrives,” the former vice-president said.

“No family should have to weigh the cost of electricity against the cost of food. No business should be left to pay more while receiving less.

“I will work with state governments and regulators, within the law, to abolish the present band system and replace it with a fair, transparent and affordable framework that protects households and holds power companies accountable for the electricity they deliver. Steady power that Nigerians can afford will be a national priority.

 

“When President Tinubu campaigned in 2022, he made an unmistakable commitment. He said, ‘If I don’t give you constant electricity for four years, when I come back for a second term, don’t vote for me.’ Nigerians have lived through those four years. They do not need his campaign council to interpret his words for them. They need him to answer for them.

“His administration has not built a single new generation infrastructure of its own to increase Nigeria’s power capacity.

“Yet it has floated a multitrillion naira bond programme to settle legacy debts owed to generation companies, without showing Nigerians how this financial intervention has produced the steady electricity they were promised.

“Paying old debts is not the same as building new power infrastructure. Bonds cannot be presented as a substitute for power in people’s homes.

“Meanwhile, Nigerians face VAT on electricity, and the Nigeria Tax Act provides for a 5 per cent surcharge on certain fossil fuels, including petrol and diesel.

“The government says the surcharge has not been activated and would require a ministerial order. At a time when families already struggle to meet the cost of energy, Nigerians deserve to know why another potential charge has been placed before them.

“Dele Alake’s statement cannot light a home. Signing a law is not electricity. Raising a bond is not electricity. Approving a project is not power delivered. Nigerians cannot cook, study, work or sustain a business on announcements.

“President Tinubu invited Nigerians to judge him by his performance. They have done so. What they seek is simple: reliable electricity they can afford and a government that keeps its word.”