A Federal High Court in Lagos has dismissed a complaint brought by the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria challenging the execution of the Abuja power Distribution Company and 11 companies’ Band A power rate revision.
According to a statement released on Thursday by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, the verdict was handed on Monday.
According to the verdict, the court weighed all of the parties’ arguments and determined that MAN’s claim constituted an abuse of the judicial process because it was filed prematurely and without consideration for the provisions of Section 51 of the Electricity Act 2023.
“The court also determined that MAN’s case revealed no plausible cause of action since it had not explored the dispute resolution system.
“It thus held that the suit was not instituted with due process of law, and consequently struck out the case,” the NERC said.
According to reports, MAN filed a petition in the Lagos Judicial Division of the Federal High Court to contest the NERC’s small revision of the electricity pricing.
The manufacturers requested four reliefs: that the necessary process required by the Act for the review was not followed before AEDC and the others appealed to NERC for the tariff review on July 31, 2023.
It asserted that regulatory standards for tariff reviews were not met when NERC issued the Supplementary Order on April 3, 2024, and the subsequently reviewed rate on May 6, 2024.
MAN further ruled that imposing the rate increase on only Band “A” feeders while excluding other bands constituted discrimination against such consumers.
It then stated that the defendants must follow administrative tariff review procedures before implementing the April and May Supplementary Orders.
NERC opposed to the litigation, claiming that MAN’s case is an abuse of court processes because it was brought hastily and prematurely without due process of law.
Band A clients are premium customers who receive no government assistance. However, they are guaranteed at least 20 hours of electricity per day.
Manufacturers in this group of consumers said that their tariffs had tripled to N209.50 per kilowatt-hour, severely increasing production costs.
