- MAN also held that placing the burden of the tariff increase on only Band “A” feeders and leaving out other bands amounted to discrimination against such consumers.
- It then noted that the defendants must comply with administrative procedures for tariff review before rightfully implementing the April and May Supplementary Orders.
A Federal High Court in Lagos has dismissed a lawsuit filed by the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) challenging the Band A electricity tariff review.
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) announced on Thursday that the judgment was delivered on Monday.
The court considered all arguments and ruled that MAN’s suit was premature and an abuse of the court process, disregarding Section 51 of the Electricity Act 2023.
“The court also held that MAN’s case disclosed no reasonable cause of action as it had not exhausted the dispute resolution mechanism.”
“It thus held that the suit was not instituted with due process of law, and consequently struck out the case,” the NERC stated.
MAN had contested the minor electricity tariff review by NERC and filed a lawsuit at the Lagos Judicial Division of the Federal High Court.
The manufacturers sought four reliefs, including that due process for the review was not fulfilled before AEDC applied to NERC on July 31, 2023.
MAN argued that regulatory requirements were not met before NERC issued the April 3, 2024, and May 6, 2024, Supplementary Orders.
They also claimed that targeting only Band “A” feeders with the tariff increase was discriminatory.
MAN emphasized that defendants must follow administrative procedures for tariff reviews before implementing the Supplementary Orders.
NERC countered that MAN’s suit was prematurely filed and abused court processes.
Band A customers, who receive at least 20 hours of daily electricity supply, face tripled tariffs at N209.50 per kilowatt-hour, negatively impacting production costs.