Hotel owners in Kwara State have protested the outrageous electricity bills charged them by the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC).
The hoteliers who staged a peaceful protest yesterday in Ilorin, the state capital, carried placards with inscriptions such as : “Capital No, to electricity tariffs by IBEDC”, “prevent job losses” and “reduce the tariffs”.
The president of the Association of Kwara Hotels Owners, Alhaji Dauda Akande, alleged that in its recent upward review of its tariffs, IBEDC “outrageously and insensitively” increased the electricity tariff of its band A customers under which many of the members fall, from N74 to N225 per unit.
“The company later effected a marginal downward review to N205 per unit. This afterthought marginal reduction is grossly inadequate and many of our businesses cannot survive this tariff hike under the prevailing economic situation of our country,” he said.
Akande warned that if IBEDC failed to effect a substantial downward review of its tariffs, many businesses would collapse and there would be inevitable job losses across the country.
He urged IBEDC to consider a substantial downward review of electricity tariffs to prevent the imminent collapse of businesses and job losses.
“We implore the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission to intervene without further delay to save our businesses and jobs,” he said.
In his response, the head of forum, Ilorin, Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Mr Amos Ajanaku, said that the commission was aware of the grievances of the hoteliers.