30th April 2024
Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, has said that the Federal Government is working in the interest of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, following a hike in electricity tariff.
Falana stated this in an interview on Channels Television’s ‘Politics Today’ on Monday.
He said, “The Honourable Minister of Power is acting the script of the IMF and the World Bank.
“Those two agencies insisted and they continue to insist that the government of Nigeria must remove all subsidies. Fuel subsidy, electricity subsidy and what have you; all social services must be commercialised and priced beyond the reach of the majority of Nigerians.
“So, the government cannot afford to protect the interest of Nigerians where you are implementing the neoliberal policies of the Bretton Wood institutions.”
The Senior Advocate of Nigeria accused Western countries led by the United States of America of double standards.
According to Falana, they subsidized agriculture, energy, and fuel and offer grants and loans to indigent students while they advised the Nigerian government against doing the same for its citizens.
Recall that the announcement of the tariff increase by the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, was greeted by public outrage.
But, Adelabu said the action would not affect everyone using electricity as only Band A customers who got about 20 hours of electricity were affected by the hike.
Falana, however, said neither the minister nor the National Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) had justified the tariff increase.
The senior lawyer said that Nigerian law gave no room for discrimination against customers by grading them in different bands.
According to Falana, the government could not ask Nigerians to pay differently for the same product even when what had been consistently served to them was darkness.
Falana, however, said that nothing would come out of the probe by the Senate, adding that the matter had to be taken to court, so that the minister and the Attorney-General of the Federation could defend the move.
