May 13, (THEWILL)- Organised labour under the aegis of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) has commenced its planned nationwide protest against electricity tariff hike and removal of subsidy from the power sector by the Federal Government.
The unions had last week issued a one-week ultimatum and threatened to picket offices of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) and premises of distribution companies (DisCos) from Monday if a total reversal of the tariff to the subsidy era was not effected.
While the ultimatum expired on Sunday, the unions commenced protest on Monday morning, with the picketing of all the offices of the NERC and distribution companies (DisCos) premises nationwide.
According to reports monitored by THEWILL, in Kaduna State, members of the labour unions blocked the main gate of the distribution company located in the State capital as early as 7am. Staff of the company were prevented from going into the premises as the protesting union members demanded the reversal of the tariff hike.
In Oyo, protesting members of the organised labour, led by the NLC Chairman in the State, Comrade Kayode Martin and Vice Chairman of the TUC, Comrade Ranti Wemimo, stormed the headquarters of the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC), calling on the Federal Government to stop the new electricity tariff.
In Kwara State, the union members blocked the entrance of the IBEDC in Ilorin. Led by Saheed Olayinka, State Chairman of the NLC, the gate of the company was locked and the staff were prevented from gaining access to their offices as early as eight 8am.
Olayinka said the hike in tariff has been having negative effects on the populace and asked the Federal Government to reverse it. The picketing, he added, will continue until the demands for the reversal are met.
Also in Kano, the state’s chapter of NLC picketed the headquarters of the Kano Electricity Distribution Company (KEDCO) and the office of NERC.
Speaking with newsmen, NLC Assistant Secretary, Abbas Ibrahim, said the action followed the recent increase in electricity tariffs, which he said was not acceptable to the workers.
The protest was in line with the directive from the national bodies of the labour unions, which had threatened to picket the DisCos and Gencos over the new tariff.
NERC had announced a hike in the electricity tariff for Band A customers at a press briefing in Abuja on April 3, revealing that those affected would pay N225 per kilowatt-hour, up from the previous rate of N68/kWh.
The hike represented a 240 per cent increase. The development marked the removal of subsidy from the tariff of customers in the Band A category, who constituted about 15 per cent of the total 12.82 million power consumers across the country.
But NERC had last Monday ordered a downward review of the tariff from 225/kWh to 206.8/kWh, representing approximately an 8.1 per cent reduction.
The Commission attributed the cut to the relative appreciation of the naira in the official foreign exchange window. NERC also said the revision of the 2024 Multi-Year Tariff Order for Band A customers led to a reduction in tariffs for all discos.
