By Cross Udo, Abuja
The organised Labour yesterday made good its threat to picket the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission and Transmission Company of Nigeria as their members stormed the headquarters of these bodies and their branches all over the country to protest over hike in electricity tariff.
The picketing of the NERC, TCN and the Ministry of Power was carried out by the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, and the Trade Union Congress, TUC and their affiliates in other states of the federation.
Recall that NERC had recently announced hike in electricity tariff across the nation from N65/kwh to N225/Kwh which attracted the reaction of the organized labour and the call for the reversal of the increment.
The protesting workers carried placards with inscriptions such as, ‘We are not generator Republic,’ IMF, World Bank, leave Nigeria Power Sector alone, “Let the poor breathe. Give us affordable and constant light”, among others.
Addressing journalists, the President of NLC, Comrade Joe Ajaero, said that the privatisation of the power sector was a ‘colossal failure’.
According to him, Organised Labour in Nigeria demands the complete reversal of the power sector privatisation and the recovery of all public electricity assets.
“These assets are sold cheap to largely inexperienced, technically deficient and financially challenged private investors.
“Workers are hit hardest by the increase in electricity tariff unlike business people while wage earning workers cannot adjust their income when the cost of utilities are increased.
“The stagnancy in wage amidst increases in electricity and refined petroleum products push workers over and beyond the limits of sanity and survival.
“Small and medium scale businesses which accommodate millions of workers in the informal economy is severely affected by the increases in energy cost.
“This has led to shutdown of business thus ballooning Nigeria unemployment market,” he said.
The organized labour described the privatization in the power sector as a ‘colossal failure’ and demanded a complete reversal of the exercise and recovery of all public electricity assets sold.
Ajaero maintained that Nigeria workers have rejected the recent increase in electricity tariff and the associated upgrading and downgrading of customers from one Band to another.
He further called on government to respect the September 2021 agreement with Labour that reinforced in 2023 agreement that government must halt further increase in the tariff of public utilities until certain conditions are met.
The NLC President said that the agreement includes the review of the privatisation exercise, de-dollarization of gas supply to electricity generation, distribution of prepaid meters to all electricity consumers in Nigeria, among others.
He said before the increase in electricity tariff, NERC ought to have called for stakeholders’ meeting for proper consultation.
Reacting to the action of the organized labour, Sanusi Garba, Chairman/ CEO of NERC, commended Labour for its peaceful demonstration in respect of issues affecting the power sector.
He said that the commission has taken input from their demands as relates to the affordability of the tariff it issued, adding, “we have also listened to you and we have listened to the concerns of Nigerians.
“I want to assure you that we will make adequate representation on the policy side on the issue of affordability of tariffs.
“We also took note on your call for the diversification of energy sources, and I would like to say that the Zungeru 700 mega watt power plant is already on.”
At the Ministry of Power office, the Minister was not in the office, as he was said to have left to attend the Federal Executive Council, FEC, meeting at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
We’re not backtracking until FG reduces electricity tariff – Oyo NLC, TUC
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Oyo State Chapter, says it won’t backtrack on picketing the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) until the Federal Government (FG) reduces the hiked electricity tariff.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that NLC alongside the Trade Union Congress (TUC) picketed offices of IBEDC and the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) in Ibadan on Monday.
The organised labour unions made the move as a result of the recent hike in electricity tariff by NERC.
Members of staff and customers at offices of IBEDC and NERC at the Ring Road Capital Building; Jericho, Dugbe and Oluyole were sent out with their gates locked by the unions.
Addressing newsmen, the Oyo State NLC Chairman, Mr Kayode Martins, said the unions would not backtrack on their demands until the FG reduced the electricity tariff.
According to Martins, it is unfair for the government to increase the electricity tariff when Nigerians are still battling economic hardship caused by the petrol subsidy removal.
He said Nigerians were not enjoying electricity supply, which he described as epileptic.
“Asking them to pay for what they are not enjoying is unfair.
“We are here to salvage the situation for the common man of this country.
“We are tired of all the policies being rolled out by our leaders, and people are finding it difficult to live conveniently as a result of these policies which are not properly laid out and implemented,” he said.
The Oyo State TUC Vice-Chairman, Mrs Ranti Sowemimo, affirmed that Nigerians were paying more for electricity they do not enjoy.
Sowemimo, therefore, called on the FG to reverse the hike to reduce the suffering faced by Nigerians.
NAN reports that members of the unions displayed placards with inscriptions such as “Nigeria workers and people reject electricity tariff hike”; “Reverse the tariff hike,” among others. (NAN)
Tariff hike, epileptic power supply, unacceptable in Bayelsa – Labour
The organised labour unions in Bayelsa have rejected the recent hike in electricity tariff by the Federal Government (FG) by staging a picketing exercise.
The Nigeria Labour Union (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) had yesterday picketed the Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company (PHED) in Yenagoa to express their resentment toward the hike.
Bayelsa NLC Chairman, Comrade Simon Barnabas, urged the government to, immediately, look into the matter by reversing the hike and giving Nigerians a constant power supply.
He decried the situation where despite the hike in tariff, people were still subjected to epileptic power supply.
He said: “Our action today (yesterday) is a way to inform the government that the hike in tariff is unacceptable by us.
“Of course, the national centres of NLC and TUC gave the directive that we should have a joint action here in Bayelsa State to express our unacceptability of this policy.
“We are calling on the authority to have an immediate reversal and passing information to our people that the labour leadership is concerned about their well-being and welfare.
“We are hoping that there will be a change of mind on the part of the government after this action.
“But where there is none, we have no option than to apply confrontation, as the issue of an epileptic power supply must be addressed”.
Meanwhile, Bayelsa TUC Chairman, Comrade Julius Laye, said introducing another form of taxation was not the right way to handle Nigerians at this time.
He said Nigerians were already sacrificing to buy petrol and diesel at exorbitant prices, therefore, the hiked electricity tariff should not be added to their woes.
According to him, the President Bola Tinubu-led administration should consider the feelings of the masses and allow them to breathe. (NAN)
