The crippling impact of the newly introduced electricity billing, which classifies locations and businesses into two buckets of Band A or Band B has been decried.

President, Save-A-Life Foundation, Dr Richard Okoye, has expressed grave concerns about the scary electricity bill served on his hospital in Rivers State by the Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution (PHED).

His outcry was contained in a video clip which went viral on Thursday,

Following the new billing classification, which put his hospital in Band A, Dr Okoye was aggrieved that his monthly bill jumped to N25,300,000, which he noted would have devastating effects on the healthcare sector in Nigeria, as well as other businesses.

Dr Okoye is not the only person speaking up against the excessive hike in electricity bills.

President, the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Festus Osifo, had made a similar call during the May Day Rally in Abuja, where he strongly urged the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) to reverse the tariff hike within a week.

Osifo maintained that keeping the current billing levels would have severe impact on Nigeria’s economic growth, thus stressing the urgency of effective energy management to prevent further setbacks.

He maintained that the “glaring incompetence in managing this sector for the collective welfare of our citizens,” is a major factor constraining Nigeria’s economy.

The labour leader asserted that, “It is unethical to force Nigerians to pay higher tariffs for non-existent electricity. Estimated billing is an extortion and a daylight robbery against Nigerians.

Recall that the NERC on April 3, 2024 approved a significant increase in electricity tariffs for customers falling under the Band A classification.

Vice Chairman. NERC, Musliu Oseni, declared that the adjustment would raise the rate from the current N66 per kilowatt-hour to N225 per kilowatt-hour.

Though the billing reviews introduced by the NERC had attracted wide condemnation from Nigerians, the government had opted to stand behind the Commission.

For the government, the over 300 percent upward review was a take-it or leave-it for electricity consumers.

Nigeria’s Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, who defended the scandalous review before the Senate pointed to the cost of infrastructure required to keep the sector running.

In his opinion, the only way to make the sector attractive to investors was to get the consumers to bear the cost of building and maintaining the infrastructure, which would also make the sector bankable.

Adelabu said, “For this sector to be revived, government need to spend nothing less than 10 billion dollars annually in the next 10 years.

“This is because of the infrastructure requirement for the stability of the sector. But government cannot afford that. And so we must make this sector attractive to investors and to lenders.

“So for us to attract investors and investment, we must make the sector attractive, and the only way it can be made attractive is that there must be commercial pricing.”

However, Dr Okoye’s position, which Netizens applaud, is that the government’s decision to jerk up Band A’s tariff, would be an epidemic against the healthcare sector and other busiensses.

He described moving from paying N66 per kilowatt to N225 per kilowatt as a ‘Band A tariff epidemic”, capable of destroying the healthcare system of Nigeria.

Dr Okoye said, “By reason of us (the hospital) being in Band A, our monthly power bill is now shooting up to N25,300,000. That’s crazy; the hospitals are not business centres but only renders essential services to society.

“This Band A tariff epidemic is bound to destroy the country’s healthcare system.

“We are already struggling with an influx of doctors leaving the country. The majority of the healthcare system is struggling, as it were. If nothing is done to urgently revisit that decision, the Band A tariff epidemics will turn most hospitals into morgues. Something that could be preventable.

“Power (electricity) is the life of the healthcare delivery. Patients have hope and a sense of living again when the light is in the hospital. In addition to that, the majority of emergency drugs and anaesthetic drugs always want to be at a particular temperature which can be sustained by electricity. If this decision persists, it will come to a point where most of the drug will be in an unusable state, and it is already happening.”

Narrating his experience during a medical engagement to elaborate on the need for a hospital to be on steady power supply, Dr Okoye pointed out that an elderly woman who was supposed to be operated upon was given the requisite volume of propofol needed for her to relax but could not sleep because the potency of the drug has reduced due to poor storage, occasioned by inadequate power supply.

“We were surprised and thought the woman was alcoholic, and the anaesthetic increased the dose a little and asked again, only for the woman to confirm that she was fine again.

“After evaluation, it was discovered that though the drug was original but not well preserved, it would lose potency.

“That is to say, those who are diabetic in Nigeria should brace up because the majority of them would see no way to buy their drugs.

“In fact, they need to travel miles to get a hospital with a steady light to get drugs they are taking.

“While this Band A is on, teaching hospitals and Federal Medical Centres which used to enjoy some relative form of light because perhaps they would not be billed like other people. They are now downgrading them to Band B and channelling Band A to those they feel can pay to the detriment of the people.

“I can count on and on. Power (supply) is what determines whether a surgical procession would be successful or not. It determines the ‘before and after’ outcome of any surgery.”

“If the instruments are not properly sterilised, they may be the ones resistant to all antibiotics known, that even when we start getting it right, the worst has already happened,” Dr Okoye pointed out.

According to him, the Nigerian government must act fast in this regard to avoid it having a severe impact on the hospitals, the healthcare system, the health of Nigerians, and businesses generally.

“My heart melts when a teaching hospital can pack its instruments to go and sterilise in another hospital because it doesn’t have light. The FG should act because it is preventable as it is now,” he stressed.

It would appear thought that the government might not have the final say on this, as a Federal High Court in Kano had already issued restraining orders on the NERC and the Kano Electricity Distribution Company (KEDC).

The court ordered the parties to refrain from implementing the new electricity tariff for Band A consumers.