Organized Labour,under the aegis of Nigerian Labour Congress, NLC, and the Trade Union Congress, TUC, Monday, made good its promise of disconnecting the headquarters of the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, the Transmission Company of Nigeria, TCN, and Abuja Electricity Distribution Company, AEDC, headquarters, as well as their offices in states across the country over the recent hike in electricity tariff
NERC had announced a hike in electricity tariff across the nation for Band A customers from N66/kwh to N225/kwh which drew the flak of many Nigerians. Consequently, leaders of NLC and their TUC counterparts had asked for a reversal of the hike, in a letter they wrote on May 3, 2024, to the Minister of Power, and the Chairman/CEO, of NERC, giving them until the May 12 to comply with their request or face the consequences of a strike action.
Following the deadline which expired on Sunday, May 12, 2024, the labour leaders had organised themselves on Monday as early as 7:am at different states across the nation in various offices of NERC, DisCos, carrying placards with varying inscriptions, demanding that NERC focus on increased regulatory oversight on DisCos and GENCOs for better and improved services rather than tariff hike.
Some of the placards bore inscriptions like: “let the poor breathe, give us affordable and constant power”, “N228 per kilowatt is killing, reverse it now,” “Electricity tariff increase, not acceptable,” “We are not a generator republic”, “We are not generator Republic,’’ and ‘’IMF, World Bank, leave Nigeria power sector alone,’’ among others.
Addressing journalists, Comrade Joe Ajaero said the privatisation of the power sector was a ‘colossal failure’, saying organised labour in Nigeria was demanding a complete reversal of the power sector privatisation and the recovery of all public electricity assets sold.
He said: “Workers are the hardest hit by the increase in electricity tariff. Unlike business people, wage-earning workers cannot adjust their income when the costs of utilities are increased.
“This stagnancy in wages amidst increases in the cost of 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 are severely affected by increases in energy costs. Many such businesses are forced to shut down thus ballooning Nigeria’s unemployment market. The ancillary cost of crimes and social unrest is a daily living experience on our streets.
“Organised labour in Nigeria is forced to the conclusion that the privatisation of the power sector in Nigeria is a colossal failure.
‘Organised labour in Nigeria demands that the complete reversal of power sector privatisation and the recovery of all public electricity assets sold dirt cheap to largely inexperienced, technically deficit and financially challenged private investors.
“Nigerian workers reject the recent increase in electricity tariff and the associated upgrading and downgrading of customers from one band to another. It is our clear position that Nigeria, after more than sixty years of independence, cannot be rationing and rationalising darkness. This is unacceptable.
“We call on the government to respect the terms of the September 2021 Agreement with Labour which was reinforced by a 2023 agreement that the government must halt further increase in the tariff of public utilities until certain conditions are met, including the review of the privatisation exercise, de-dollarisation of gas supply for electricity generation, distribution of pre-paid meters to all electricity consumers in Nigeria, increase in electricity generation and distribution in Nigeria, with adequate commitment to investment in green and renewable energy sources and finally respect the rights of all electricity consumers in Nigeria?”
Ajaero went on to list some of Labour’s demand to the chairman of NERC, Sanusi Garba, informing him that the National Union of Electricity Employees, NUEE, had been directed to order workers in the sector to cut off power supply to all the areas NERC and TCN offices are located across the country as part of workers’ protest against the hiked tariff.
“We are very serious about our demand that NERC and TCN reverse the recent tariff hike. The tariff is killing.
“It is killing businesses and Nigerians. And as part of our protest, we have asked electricity workers under our centres to cut off power supply in all NERC and TCN offices across the country. Please review the current tariff, it is not workers’ friendly, it is not acceptable,’’ he stated further.
The NERC chairman replied by saying that the commission had noted their demands as it relates to the affordability of the tariff it issued, and praised labour for its peaceful demonstration in respect of issues affecting the power sector, adding that the concerns of Nigerians with regards to these issues will be duly addressed.
It noted that the privatization in the power sector was a ‘colossal failure ‘ and demanded a complete reversal of the exercise and recovery of all public electricity assets sold.
Recall that leaders of NLC and their TUC counterparts had on May 3, 2024, written to the Minister of Power, and the Chairman/CEO, of NERC, giving them the May 12 deadline to reverse the electricity tariff increase or face industrial unrest.
The picketing of NERC, TCN and the Ministry of Power was carried out by the NLC, and the TUC.
NERC had earlier announced a hike in electricity tariff across the nation for Band A customers from N65/kwh to N225/Kwh which attracted condemnation from many sections of the country, including Organized Labour.
The labour leaders had converged at the Central Business District Area, Abuja Labour House, as early as 7 am before proceeding to NERC headquarters, displaying various placards with inscriptions such as “increase regulatory oversight on DISCOs and GENCOs not tariff increase on poor and innocent Nigerians”, “let the poor breathe, give us affordable and constant power”, “N228 per kilowatt is killing, reverse it now,” “Electricity tariff increase, not acceptable,” “We are not a generator republic”, “We are not generator Republic,’’ and ‘’IMF, World Bank, leave Nigeria power sector alone,’’ among others.
‘Collosal failure’
Addressing journalists, Comrade Joe Ajaero said the privatisation of the power sector was a ‘colossal failure’, saying organised labour in Nigeria was demanding a complete reversal of the power sector privatisation and the recovery of all public electricity assets sold.
He said: “Workers are the hardest hit by the increase in electricity tariff. Unlike business people, wage-earning workers cannot adjust their income when the costs of utilities are increased.
“This stagnancy in wages amidst increases in the cost of 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 are severely affected by increases in energy costs. Many such businesses are forced to shut down thud ballooning Nigeria’s unemployment market. The ancillary cost of crimes and social unrest is a daily living experience on our streets.
“Organised labour in Nigeria is forced to the conclusion that the privatisation of the power sector in Nigeria is a colossal failure.
‘Organised labour in Nigeria demands that the complete reversal of power sector privatisation and the recovery of all public electricity assets sold dirt cheap to largely inexperienced, technically deficit and financially challenged private investors.
“Nigerian workers reject the recent increase in electricity tariff and the associated upgrading and downgrading of customers from one band to another. It is our clear position that Nigeria, after more than sixty years of independence, cannot be rationing and rationalising darkness. This is unacceptable.
“We call on the government to respect the terms of the September 2021 Agreement with Labour which was reinforced by a 2023 agreement that the government must halt further increase in the tariff of public utilities until certain conditions are met, including the review of the privatisation exercise, de-dollarisation of gas supply for electricity generation, distribution of pre-paid meters to all electricity consumers in Nigeria, increase in electricity generation and distribution in Nigeria, with adequate commitment to investment in green and renewable energy sources and finally respect the rights of all electricity consumers in Nigeria?”
Workers asked to disconnect TCN, NERC’s offices
Delivering organised labour’s demands to the chairman of NERC, Sanusi Garba, Ajaero informed him that the National Union of Electricity Employees, NUEE, had been directed to order workers in the sector to cut off power supply to all the areas NERC and TCN offices are located across the country as part of workers’ protest against the hiked tariff.
“We are very serious about our demand that NERC and TCN reverse the recent tariff hike. The tariff is killing.
“It is killing businesses and Nigerians. And as part of our protest, we have asked electricity workers under our centres to cut off power supply in all NERC and TCN offices across the country. Please review the current tariff, it is not workers’ friendly, it is not acceptable,’’ he stated further.
Responding, the NERC chairman said the commission had taken input from their demands as it relates to the affordability of the tariff it issued, and commended labour for its peaceful demonstration in respect of issues affecting the power sector.
He said: “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 of your call for the diversification of energy sources and I would like to say that the new Zungeru 700 Megawatts power plant is already online, generating over 600MW.
“We are also making efforts to ramp up solar generation in such a manner that tariffs will come down. I also note your remarks about the banks sitting on the boards of the distribution companies.
‘’The commission had earlier given deadlines for the banks to divest their shares and exit from the distribution companies because we want proper core investors sitting on these boards.”
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.
Lagos
In Lagos, the economic nerve centre of the country, labour leaders also crippled operations of Eko Electricity Distribution Company, EKDC, and Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company, IKEDC office at Marina and Alausa, respectively.
The picketing labour leaders in Lagos, led by Lagos State chairperson of NLC, Funmi Sessi, expressed the anger of residents of the state to the hike, lamenting that while Nigerians are suffering power outages and high tariff, despite living in a resource-rich nation, the country is supplying uninterrupted electricity to neighbouring nations.