A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has dismissed a suit challenging the hike in electricity tariff, saying it was an abuse of court process.
The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, MAN, had dragged eleven distribution companies (DisCos) before the court over the increasing electricity tariff for Band A customers.
Delivering judgment on Thursday, October 10, the court held that the suit was without due regard to the provisions of Section 51 of the Electricity Act 2023. This was disclosed in a statement on Wednesday by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC.
“The court considered the arguments adduced by the parties and delivered a well-considered judgment on 7 October 2024 by ruling that MAN’s suit was an abuse of court process being premature and without due regard to the provisions of section 51 of the Electricity Act 2023.
The court also held that MAN’s case disclosed no reasonable cause of action and that by having not exhausted the internal mechanism of resolution of disputes, the suit was not instituted with due process of law and consequently struck out the case,” NERC said.
MAN is yet to react to the court ruling.
Recall that NERC had on April 3 approved an increase in electricity tariff for customers under the Band A classification.