Afenifere Urges Tinubu to Arrest Spate of Price Increase

*Wonders if energy is imported by Discos in dollars to warrant tariff increase

Emameh Gabriel in Abuja

In the wake of plans by some government institutions to jack up prices of commodities and services, the pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to urgently halt such moves “as such would further worsen the precarious situations of hapless Nigerians.”
The organisation also faulted the planned increase in tariff by the power Distribution Companies (Discos) because the naira exchange rate depreciated  from N441 to a dollar to about N750 per dollar, wondering why service being rendered in Nigeria should be denominated in or predicated on US dollar
This was contained in a statement issued by the National Publicity Secretary of the organisation,  Jare Ajayi, and made available to journalists yesterday.

Faulting the reason of Discos for the planned increase in tariff, Ajayi wondered why service being rendered in Nigeria should be denominated in or predicated on US Dollar.

“Is the energy they are distributing imported from the United States of America?”

Ajayi maintained that various steps taken lately by the Tinubu-led administration may have the potential of lifting Nigeria up in the medium and long term but, “there is the need to ensure that the people are not squeezed out of breath before that good time comes, as it’s only a person who is wholesomely alive that would enjoy the largesse of tomorrow!”

While calling on Tinubu to checkmate steps capable of alienating his administration from the people, Afenifere urged him to be mindful of actions by government agencies that may be tantamount to sabotaging his good intentions.

Some electricity Discos had on June 25, 2023, announced that from July 1, this year, the tariffs being paid by electricity consumers in Nigeria would go up by 40 per cent.

Similarly, Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Transportation, Engr. Abdulhafiz Toriola, had on Tuesday, June 27th, disclosed that the Joint Tax Board has imposed a levy of N1,000 per annum on every vehicle owner in Nigeria. The payment was said to be in the form of Proof of Ownership Certificate (POC). Afenifere said this was without regard to various taxes vehicle owners pay yearly viz Vehicle Licence, Insurance, road worthiness and hackney permit (for commercial vehicles) etc.

Afenifere said for instance, “in many states across the country, some road users (other than pedestrians) have daily payments to make to be allowed to ply the roads.

“An example is the one in Oyo State being carried out by the Park Management System (PMS). Many other states have similar arrangements.”

The organisation said though to further squeeze the citizens, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has made it obligatory for commercial banks to collect and verify their customers’ social media handles as part of their Know Your Customer (KYC) process, stating that the, “directive amounts to making members of the public ‘to pay’ for the failure and negligence of relevant organs of the government in carrying out their constitutionally assigned duties.”

Ajayi added: “The CBN, through its Director, Financial Policy and Regulations Department, Mr. Chibuzo Efobi, said that it gave the directive with a view to ‘bolstering compliance with anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism provisions.’

“Already, every telephone user in the country got captured as directed by the National Communications Commission (NCC) with the National Identity Number (NIN) incorporated.

 “Besides, every bank customer now has what is known as a Bank Verification Number (BVN). Email addresses were also registered with the banks into which information from banks are sent to the respective customers. Meaning that the information this new directive is seeking is already within the purview of government agencies.”

He called on Tinubu to stop the planned increase on electricity tariff and ensure that the increase was not effected secretly as had been done before, stop the planned N1,000 POC levy and prevail on relevant arms of government to utilise information about Nigerians already in their purview as the new CBN directive is repetitive of what already exists in addition to its potential of being used to infringe on the privacy of Nigerians”.

Arguing that the new directive from the CBN was another way of traumatising Nigerians as was done to youths three years ago when the Joint Admissions and Matriculations Board (JAMB) made it a condition for them to obtain NIN before they could register for its examinations that year, Ajayi submitted that the youths suffered greatly as the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) that was supposed to issue the NIN could not cope.

He said: “Yet, the youths were made to suffer for what was not of their making in any way.”

“In making it compulsory for every telephone user to be captured by telecommunications network, the NCC said that it was to make it possible for security agencies to be able to track kidnappers who use telephone to contact families of those they kidnap. This has been on for more than four years. Yet, kidnapping still continues.

“This means that the security failure in the country is not due to lack of information about the kidnappers and other terrorists. “Rather, it was due to the failure of those who are in charge of security. Various reasons could be adduced for this including perhaps sabotage and lackadaisical attitude of the government. “The terrorism that occurred in Bauchi state this Ileya season during which terrorists operated for hours, according to reports, is another instance. Reports certainly went out during the course of the operation, yet the terrorists not only killed some people, they kidnapped many including the wife of the community head just as they burgled supermarkets and houses without being checked.”

Afenifere, which applauded Tinubu for some bold steps he has taken within one month of assuming office, noted that his actions were restoring people’s confidence in the government and have the potential for a broader economic transformation. But the way some of the policies are being implemented are making many to ‘gasp for breath.’