Tension mounts as electricity workers lock out minister over tariff hike

Tension reached a fever-pitch at the headquarters of the Federal Ministry of Power in Abuja as the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) and the Senior Staff Association of Electricity and Allied Companies (SSAEAC) grounded activities to a halt on Monday, May 20, 2024.

The protesting members of NUEE and SSAEAC also prevented access to the Power House building in the Maitama District of Abuja, effectively locking out the Minister of Power Adebayo Adelabu and other workers of the ministry.

The unions embarked on the action to register their displeasure over the electricity tariff increase, which they alleged was done without consultation.

At the same time, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) also gave the Federal Government a deadline of May 31, 2024, to reverse the hike in electricity tariff.

The labour unions took the decision after a joint National Executive Council meeting on Monday.

Labour unions reject electricity tariff hike

In a statement issued at the end of the meeting, the organised Labour restated their displeasure over the tariff increase, describing it as unjust and burdensome.

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“The NEC once again vehemently condemns the unilateral increase in electricity tariff by the authorities.

"This action, taken without due consideration for the economic hardships faced by the masses and the provisions of the law, is deemed unjust and burdensome.

"The NEC reaffirms its demands for an immediate reversal of the tariff hike and the vexatious apartheid categorisation into bands to alleviate the suffering of Nigerian workers and citizens and gives the National Electricity Regulatory Commission and the Federal Government until the last day of May 2024 to meet these demands,” the unions said.

Workers say protest will continue until govt reacts

The acting General Secretary of NUEE, Igwebike Dominic, said the shutdown of the power ministry would continue until the government accedes to the union's demands or calls for a meeting to address the concerns.

“The shutdown of Power House is going to continue until they hold a meeting with the unions or meet the demands written in our letter to the minister,” Dominic stated

In the letter jointly signed by both unions and addressed to the minister, the associations alleged that the government took a unilateral and detrimental decision to liquidate TCN without consulting stakeholders.

They also accused Adelabu that, since he assumed office, his ministry and the National Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) have been running the sector without recourse to critical stakeholders in the power industry.

The unions stressed that the unilateral tariff increase to about 300% was done without stakeholders' dialogue, adding that the proposed review of workers’ salaries does not receive the desired considerations.

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“The mischievous deduction of eight per cent of the revenue generated as technical losses from TCN is a political calculation to blackmail the company and its management to make it look inefficient is disheartening and would, in the long term, hurt the entire electricity value chain. This is highly unacceptable and cannot be sustained.

“The vexatious order from NERC on a monthly deduction of N2bn from the account of TCN is unrealistic and an attempt to run TCN down, portray the management as incompetent and take advantage of the failures for selfish political gains. We want a justified reason for such a humongous and unrealistic deduction.

“The illegal deduction of 46.7 per cent from TCN revenue (not even profit) for project execution for Discos; are the privatised companies not owned by private entities? What system of privatisation are we adopting? Our findings revealed that all these obnoxious orders from NERC are a conspiracy to grind the operations of TCN and then liquidate it. These are to prepare enough ground to unbundle it for selfish political gains by a few people,” they alleged.