The Senate on Wednesday rejected the proposed plan by the federal government to further increase the electricity tariff being charged to consumers across the country.

The upper chamber also asked its Committee on Power to probe the claims by the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, on why the government must remove subsidies on electricity. The resolution was sequel to a motion sponsored by Aminu Abbas (PDP, Adamawa Central) during the plenary.

The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, who presided over the plenary, ruled over the resolution of the red chamber after a majority of the senators supported it through voice vote.

The Minister of Power had last week hinted that the federal government might remove subsidies on electricity supply. Adelabu had claimed that Nigeria could not continue to subsidise electricity to Nigeria because of the huge indebtedness in the power sector to the tune of N3 trillion.

However, federal lawmakers in the red chamber had asked him to perish the thought in their separate contributions during a debate on the motion on the grounds that it would aggravate the sufferings of Nigerians.