Tariff hike: Labour protests, disconnects NERC, TCN, DisCos’ offices

ABUJA — Organized Labour yesterday shut down the headquarters of the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, the Transmission Company of Nigeria, TCN, and Abuja Electricity Distribution Company, AEDC, headquarters over the recent hike in electricity tariff.

Under the aegis of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, and its Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, TUC, Organised Labour which demanded a reversal of the hike, also shut down state offices of electricity distribution companies, DisCos, across the country.

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.

She said: “We are selling ourselves short while our people suffer. We do not have enough to take care of ourselves. Electricity in Nigeria has become a breeding ground for corruption. It is high time we united our voices and said enough is enough. The wealthy must bear the burden of the poor, and we must be allowed to breathe.”

Sessi called on the Federal Government to reverse the hike and abolish Band A and Z rates which had imposed additional financial burdens on Nigerians.

Ondo

Similarly, in Akure, the Ondo State capital, leaders of the NLC and TUC shutdown the state headquarters of Benin Electricity Distribution Company, BEDC, located at NEPA area of Akure.

The protesters blocked the main gate of the company and prevented staff from gaining entrance to the premises, while demanding a reversal of the tariff hike.

The state chairman of NLC, Victor Amoko, while addressing newsmen, described the hike in electricity tariff as unjustifiable, and lamented the untold economic hardship the hike had inflicted on the citizenry.

He said: “We say no to increment in tariff. Before now, we don’t have adequate electricity supply, despite paying hug amount of money. In Akure, for instance, for good four days, we won’t have electricity supply and they keep increasing the tariff. We are saying enough is enough.

Also speaking, the state chairman of TUC, Clement Fatuase, called on President Bola Tinubu to stop various harsh economic policies his administration had been introducing in the last one year.

Fatuase said the BEDC and other DisCos offices would remain shut until the government reversed the new tariff

Ogun

Also in Ogun State, labour leaders crippled operations of the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company, IEDC, office at Leme, Imo Abeokuta, as well as NERC, Ibara GRA, Abeokuta.

Led by leaders of NLC and TUC in the state, the protesters blocked the entrance of the two offices and crippled their operations

TUC chairman in the state, Akeem Lasisi, said: “We all woke up on the 3rd day of April to hear the insulting increase of electricity tariff to N225 kilowatt/hour without consulting the major stakeholders in the power sector.

“As workers, we are totally against this because our salary remains stagnant, the exchange rate, school fees, house rent, food items transport fare, etc are all on the increase while our salary is begging for an upward review.’’

On his part, state chairman of NLC, Ademola Hammed-Benco, said: “We are here to express the displeasure of Nigerians on the purported hike in electricity tariff and we have been directed by the national leadership of TUC and NLC to seal all the NERC officers and that of the DISCOs across the state and that is what we are doing.

“We have already accomplished that of IBEDC in Leme because I must confess to you the price hike is anti-human and it is unfriendly to labour.

Oyo

In Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, labour leaders, led by the state chairman of NLC, Kayode Martins, and the Vice Chairman of TUC, Ranti Oluwawemimo, stormed the IEDC at 9 am and disrupted its operations

Martins said: “We’re here to show our grievances. We are suffering. As we are crying of pains, the government is compounding our pains by introduction of taxes and removal of electricity subsidy. Please, what is left for us in this country?

“Someone fell and had his hands, and legs dislocated; lost his legs and his head badly injured. Yet, you’re still asking if health is okay when he has lost almost everything.

‘’We are afraid and we don’t have anyone abroad to run to. You now enslaved us. They have hijacked democracy and we are suffering. We are hungry, that’s why we are protesting”.

TUC vice chairman in the state, Oluwawemimo, said: “They have driven us to the wall and there’s nothing left for us than to turn back and face us. They are making life difficult for us. ‘’They have almost snuffed life out of us. In a saner clime, if they want to remove subsidy on anything, their government will first put some measures in place to cushion the effects but in Nigeria, it is not so.”