Political economist and Convener of The Big Tent, Professor Pat Utomi, has called on the Federal Government to urgently revalidate or scrap the Band A electricity supply tariff regime, describing it as “economically senseless” and exploitative to the average Nigerian.
Speaking during a press conference on the state of the nation on Monday in Lagos, Utomi said the current Band A policy “reaps off Nigerians,” especially middle-class professionals such as university lecturers, who now spend up to 75 percent of their salaries on electricity alone.
“In its current form, Band A is lacking in logic and is further impoverishing the working class,” he said.
Band A, as introduced by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), refers to customers who enjoy at least 20 hours of power supply daily and pay the highest tariffs under a service-reflective billing system.
Utomi said such a pricing model, without equitable service delivery or economic relief measures, would deepen inequality and burden already overstretched Nigerian households.
On legislative priorities, Utomi faulted the National Assembly for focusing more on oversight rather than urgently needed reforms, particularly in electoral law and security restructuring.
“It’s a disservice to Nigeria that the National Assembly has yet to complete work on electoral reforms ahead of the 2027 general elections,” he said, urging lawmakers to prioritise pragmatic amendments that would foster credible elections and decentralised policing.
He advocated for constitutional changes to allow for state, community, and council-level armed police, saying decentralisation was “the fastest way to combat insecurity” currently plaguing rural Nigeria.
“The insecurity crisis has significantly worsened poverty and food insecurity in rural areas, as peasant farmers can no longer access their farmlands,” he said.
Utomi further warned that poverty and insecurity are interlinked, adding that tackling both with urgency would reduce the pool of vulnerable individuals easily recruited by terrorists and insurgents.
He also pushed for reforms in the land tenure system and called for the establishment of land registries that would give economic value to land assets, thereby unlocking capital for rural dwellers and farmers.
“The universities must also play a role in agricultural extension services, just as land grant universities helped revolutionise agriculture in the United States,” he added.
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