According to a recent report citing calculations by the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ), minimum wage earners typically allocate at least 57.3% of their monthly salaries to electricity bills when using just seven essential appliances.
The FIJ report noted that while the wage increase was a good development for workers, the cost of living has rendered the wage increase almost insignificant.
The report spotlights the cost of electricity alone and its impact on workers’ wages.
According to a National Income, Salaries and Wages Commission (NISWC) document, civil servants under the Consolidated Public Service Salary Structure would earn N930,000 per annum. This means that a minimum wage earner would go home with a salary of about N77, 500.
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) announced a 300 percent increase in electricity tariff for those in the B and A service category in April.
According to the Vice Chairman of the NERC, Musliu Oseni, the tariff hike meant that customers who formerly paid N66 per kilowatt per hour would now pay N225 for the same unit of electricity.
In the announcement, the NERC also said that only users in the band A service category, about 15 percent of the entire customer population, would be affected.
