Following the 250 per cent hike in electricity tariff, the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) has disclosed that it is under pressure from its members nationwide to shutdown the entire manufacturing sector.
The group said no local firm could survive 250 per cent electricity tariff imposed on the country’s manufacturing sector, either in the short or long-term under the current economic quagmire.
Director-General of MAN, Mr. Segun Ajayi-Kadir, in an interview with New Telegraph in Lagos, explained that the association was still tinkering with the next step to battle the excessive 250 per cent electricity tariff hike, which is plundering many local manufacturers’ businesses.
Ajayi-Kadir berated NERC’s bias for partially giving 50 per cent electricity tariff discount to the universities and hospitals while excluding manufacturers, which, according to him, accounts for not only job creation in the country, but the country’s non-oil sector revenue earnings.
He said: “I think MAN has made it very clear what our position is and I am sure even in our homes, we know the impacts of Band A. I believe that you are referring to the last court case, that we lost, and what we are going to do next. “Well, let me tell you, the battle or the fight is not over yet.
There are many battles that are fought. We have indicated that NERC and Discos are wrong because they should not have increased the tariff by 250 per cent, nobody survives that in this economic hardship.
“And this is evidence in the fact that the Federal Government is giving a discount of 50 per cent to universities and hospitals. If it was acceptable, government wouldn’t do that. And manufacturers also are even deserving like these institutions because we create jobs, pay taxes and we are responsible for the proceeds of the non-oil sector that Nigeria has.
