A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has dismissed the case presented by the Manufacturer Association of Nigeria (MAN) against the eleven Distribution Companies (DisCos) for increasing electricity tariff for Band A customers. This development was disclosed in a statement issued by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) on Thursday.
The judgment which was delivered on Monday ruled that the suit by MAN was premature and did not comply with section 51 of the Electricity Act 2023.
NERC said, “The court also held that MAN’s case disclosed no reasonable cause of action as it had not exhausted the dispute resolution mechanism.
“It thus held that the suit was not instituted with due process of law, and consequently struck out the case.”
Recall that MAN filed a lawsuit against the DisCos when the electricity tariff for Band A customers was increased from N66 to N225 per kilowatt hour, arguing that the regulatory procedures for tariff reviews were not properly followed, adding that the application of tariff increase solely for Band A feeders, while excluding other bands, was discriminatory against those consumers.
In its response, NERC objected to the suit, noting that MAN’s case was an abuse of court processes and “prematurely filed without following due process of the law”.