LIFE is getting tougher and harder under President Bola Tinubu administration. Petrol cost has risen nearly five times since Mr Tinubu became president on May 29 2023, with ripple effects on income and cost of living.
Telecom firms have made the life of consumers difficult, raising voice and data tariffs by 50 percent. Multichoice has raised the cost of DSTV services, increasing the price of DStv Premium to N44,500 from N37,000 and Compact Plus to N30,000 from N19,000, among others.
Right now, the Federal Government is planning to “regularise” electricity tariffs for customers for bands B, C and D “to ensure a more efficient and reliable power sector,” according to Minister of Power, Mr Adebayo Adelabu.
Adelabu said this during the Public Presentation of the National Integrated Electricity Policy (NIEP) and Nigeria Integrated Resource Plan in Abuja last Thursday. Though Mr Adelabu denied plans to raise electricity tariffs, analysts say the word “regularise” simply means to “make tariffs for other bands in consonance with Band A.” This is tantamount to rate increases, they add.
Are price increases driven by Tinubu?
Many Nigerians like Muhammed Adoki, an Abuja-based civil servant, are wondering whether the price increases were fuelled by Mr Tinubu. “What is Tinubu’s business with DSTV or MTN? If they want to increase their prices, can Tinubu stop them?” he asked Economy Post recently.
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Experts say the price increases were driven by high inflation, driven largely by Mr Tinubu’s critical but unpopular policies, notably petrol sector deregulation and foreign exchange float.
Mr Tinubu announced on May 29 2023 – the day of his inaguration- that “subsidy is gone.” After then, petrol price jumped from N200/litre to over N600 per litre and above N1000/ litre a few months after. The coming on stream of Dangote Petroleum Refinery has helped to moderate the price to around N840/litre to N960/litre. Yet its multiplier effects are still dire. The effects of the petrol price increase were worsened by the foreign exchange float, which saw the naira slump from less than 700/$ to over 1500/$ in 18-22 months.
Consequently, inflation rose from 22.79 percent in June 2023 to 34.80 percent in December 2024. Though the rebasing of the Consumer Price Index in January 2025 slowed inflation to 24.48 percent from 34.80 percent in December 2024, prices of things are still on the rise, with the government doing little to assuage the sufferings of the poor.
Firms demand increase in service rates
As a result of the good but ill-timed policies, firms are reacting so rapidly. Telcos increased their agitation to raise their tariffs. In October 2024, Chief Executive Officer of MTN Nigeria, Mr Karl Toriola, warned that the firm might shut down if tariffs were not reviewed.
“There should be no delusion; if the tariff doesn’t go up, we will shut down,” he said, stressing that the company was being axyphysiated by rising cost of operations in Nigeria.
On January 7 2025, Airtel Nigeria fingered a 300 percent rise in the cost of operation for its demand for call, data, and other telecommunications services tariff increases from the Nigerian government.
Chief Executive Officer, Mr Dinesh Balsingh, said in a statement that the rise in operational costs in the last 18 to 24 months had made tariff adjustments inevitable for “the long-term sustainability of the telecom sector.”
“For over a decade, tariffs have remained static despite the dramatic increase in operating expenses, which have surged by over 300 percent in the last 18 to 24 months alone,” he said.
“To continue providing high-quality services and meeting the growing demand for digital connectivity, it has become essential to realign our pricing structure with economic realities.” Today, telcos have raised their voice and data charges by 50 percent, making life difficult for many Nigerians.
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Multichoice is not left out. One year ago, it had raised its DSTV and GOtv rates. Today, it is asking for more. In a message to its customers in late February 2025, Multichoice said, “Dear Customer, please note that effective 1 March 2025, there will be a price adjustment on all DStv packages. This is to enable us to continue to offer our customers world-class homegrown and international content, delivered through the best technology.”
Electricity distribution companies (DisCos) are also desperately seeking money from consumers to have the warchest for investment. Some DisCos like Ikeja Electric are even strangely delivering bills to wrong addresses and threatening the occupants to pay. In one such occasion in Lagos, the occcupants were asked to pay the bill even though it was not meant for them. When they refused, they were disconnected.
It’s partly Tinubu’s fault
Experts say Mr Tinubu must bear part of the blame for the rising costs in the economy, which are driving businesses to desperation.
“I must admit that former President Muhammadu Buhari did not run this economy well. This galloping inflation started under his administration. However, Tinubu’s twin policies made life difficult for the people. Without his reforms – necessary but painful- inflation would have been much lower,” said an economist, Mr Suleiman Abdu.
A financial expert, Ms Chidiogo Okoro, said Mr Tinubu must assuage the sufferings of the people. “He contributed to the sutuation by wrongly doing these reforms at the same time. You can’t do that in an economy where your people are the poorest in the world. So, he needs to stand up and act. Let him provide incentives and succour for the people and their businesses.”
