A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, Joe Igbokwe is under fire for publicly criticising electricity tariff increase
by President Bola Tinubu-led federal government.
The Lagos-based politician who hails from South eastern part of Nigeria, was revealed on social Media on Sunday after his appeal to President Tinubu to intervene and reduce the new electricity tariff.
Igbokwe got knocks after lamenting that 200 per cent electricity tariff “increase will kill businesses if the government does not act quickly as possible to review the policy”.
He said, “I have a small office in Surulere with about 7 Units of AC. We use to buy 305 units for N20,0000. Yesterday (Sunday September 8th), we bought N20,000 and got 80 units and it lasted for just one day. They call it band A group. I pray that we review this”, according to Igbokwe.
TheNewspad reports that frustration spilled into households and businesses after the federal government jerked electricity tariff from N68 to N225 ($0.15)/ per KwH for energy users that enjoy 20-hour electricity supply.
The government through the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) 300 per cent electricity tariff, effective April 1, 2024, for Band A consumers in Nigeria.
Reacting to Igbokwe’s comments along with President Tinubu’s photograph on his social Media post, a Facebook user, Juwun Tunde Chief, expressed shock that if such a privileged Nigerian should complain about the economic situation.
“Can you now imagine the lives of countrymen on N30,000 minimum wage???…and those with no steady salary income?”, he queried.
Another user, Ganiyu Ayinla said, “Kindly compare the cost of power in Nigeria with other climes just as you did with fuel. 20,000 Naira is less than 15 dollar”.
“Ask those in other climes their monthly energy bill and they don’t even put on four ACs.
Trust the process sir. The pain is inevitable due to past theft and mismanagement.
“Only if you endure a bit longer,you are going to enjoy. In asiwaju you Trust. If not for him, you would have been paying 50,000 as against 20,000 you did”, Ayinla wrote on Facebook.
“The facts is Mr president is too intellectual intelligent not to know all this and this is how Mr President is disappoint someone like me. Devaluation of Naira, removal of subsidy and increases the electricity tariff all this is enough to crippled the economy.
“Fuel is like the blood our economy need to breathe,transportation and production of commodities are the major driving force that can reduce hardship.
“He (Tinubu) now add electricity tariff to it and he think poor can be able to breathe with all this policies. All this is just another way of strangle the poor to death”, Adeyemi Adekunle, wrote.
According to Odomobi Nnamdi Caleb, “Oh Nigeria has happened to you. Now you feel what we have been feeling since this their brand A stuff. This is just the start you have not started complaining it will reach everybody.
“Soon you will buy fuel 2000 and they will add both the road we use and the air we breath on brand A”, he said.
Yahaya Buhari wrote: “I don’t think your messiah can hear you in this tone, please, increase the volume”.
In his part, Emmanuel Chuks Okezie Joe Igbokwe wrote: “Congratulations you made it. Welcome to this side of life”.
“You have just started. Infact go to Abuja and complain. I remembered when #EndBadGovernance was been planned, you advised a lot of Nigerians to go to Abuja and demonstrate and complain.
“So why not go there? Your thinking was that Nigerians were complaining because they don’t like Tinubu, but not so. His policies are not good at all.
“He will turn out to be the worst government ever in the history of Nigeria. Very soon your co-party members will term you as a saboteur. That is because you were not settled that is why you are complaining”, he said while Imade Bamidele added that constructive criticism helps”.
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