Aba Power, Nigeria’s newest electricity distribution company (DisCo), has dismissed media reports claiming that an Abia State High Court ruled against the new electricity tariff approved by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).
The company clarified that no court has voided the new tariff for its customers or any of the other 11 DisCos in the country. NERC had issued a tariff adjustment for Aba Power effective January 1, 2025, following a nine-month delay after similar adjustments were approved for other DisCos.
Reacting to the reports, Aba Power’s Communication and Brand Manager, Edise Ekong, described them as false and misleading. “It is untrue and completely misleading for online media to claim that Justice Enyinnaya Ikpeazu of the Isiala Ngwa High Court in Abia State directed Aba Power to revert to the old tariff,” Ekong stated in a press release.
He explained that a group called the Aba Electricity Consumers Forum had challenged the tariff in court, but the judge ruled that the group was unregistered and had no legal standing. “Rather than inform the public of the court’s decision, the group launched a propaganda campaign to mislead electricity consumers into refusing to pay the new tariff,” Ekong added.
He further noted that the court directed members of the unregistered group, led by Ike Opigwe, to appear as individual electricity consumers.
Ekong urged Aba Power customers in the Aba Ring-fenced Area—covering nine of Abia State’s 17 local government areas—to continue paying the new tariff, which came into effect nearly a year after the rest of the country had already adopted the revised rates. He emphasized that this was necessary, especially as the Federal Government had announced plans for another tariff increase soon.
According to Ekong, the new tariff adjustment aligns with the government’s efforts to phase out electricity subsidies, which have cost over six trillion naira since the sector’s privatization in 2013.
He also highlighted that Aba Power is the only DisCo that has not received any government subsidies, and its generation partner, the Geometric Power Integrated Power Group, has not benefitted from financial support either. “We are delighted that we are widely considered a role model in the electricity business in Nigeria,” he remarked.
