By Johnmark Ukoko, Lagos
The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Kano and Jigawa state branches, have decried
what they termed the high bill that the Kano Electricity Distribution Company (KEDCO)
charges manufacturers in the two states.
The complaint was contained in a statement jointly signed by the MAN chairmen of the
branches, Alhaji Kabiru Musa (Kano) and Sani Hussaini (Jigawa) State MAN.
According to them, “We will like to categorically state that, there is a disparity in the electricity
tariff between Kano and Lagos State.
“Manufacturers in Kano, Jigawa and other places now pay about N 13.00 per (KWA) which is
higher than the electricity tariff in Lagos. That has resulted in increasing cost of production by
manufacturer in the kano axis above Lagos,” they said.
The statement also pointed out that the industrial sector was paying higher tariff than commercial
and residential consumers, saying that the practice was likely to affect the government efforts at
diversifying the economy from oil to manufacturing and other sectors.
“The government should unite the tariff all over the country to balance the competitiveness
among manufacturers. Or it should create an Electricity Equalisation Fund (EEF) as in the
petroleum sector, which makes the price of PMS to be the same all over the country,” the
statement added.
When contained the head of corporate communications Kano Distribution Company (KEDCO)
Mr. Ibrahim Shawai, said that MAN was one of their priority customers.
“Their wellbeing and competitiveness boost economic activities and provide jobs to thousands
of people across KEDCO’s license area.
“KEDCO has been trying its best to rationalize tariffs for industries in its area, having realized
the critical aspect of the cost of electricity to industries.
“We have been interfacing with the Federal Government to bring about a change in this tariff a
normally by reducing the level of cross- subsidy and increasing the supply of power to
customers,” he said, adding that KEDCO now received an average of 2406 MW for distribution
to its customers.
Shawai noted that efforts were on to upgrade the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN)
facilities and transmission lines to improve power supply, which would boost KEDCO’s
downstream distribution network between 2022 and 2023.
“Very soon customers will not only see a massive improvement in electricity supply, but also feel
the economic benefits of a much lower tariff,” Shawai promised.
It would be recalls that Kano and Jigawa State axis is the major manufacturing hub in the
Northern region of Nigeria.