Government must reverse the over 300% hike in electricity tariff now or force a nationwide protest and strike.
This is the message to the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC by Organised Labour on Monday when it shutdown business activities at the agency’s headquarters in Abuja, the nation’s capital.
Addressing the protesting workers, Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC President, Joe Ajaero said even the band categorisation must be withdrawn.
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The protest according to Organised Labour is holding simultaneously in all NERC offices and those of the Transmission Company of Nigeria, TCN and Distribution Companies nationwide
In Rivers State, members of NLC and the Trade Union Congress, TUC joined in the nationwide picketing exercise at the head office of the Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company, PHED, which they placed under lock and key.
State NLC Chairman, Alex Ikechi described the hike in the electricity tariff for Band A customers as discriminatory and should be reversed from the new price of N225 per kilowatt-hour, to the previous rate of N68 per kilowatt-hour, noting that anything short of that, the union will continue to occupy the premises of the DisCos.
And members of Organised Labour in Kwara State led by their Chairmen, Murtala Olayinka of NLC and his TUC counterpart, Olayinka Onikijipa trooped out in their numbers to picket the Ilorin office of NERC on No. 30 Stadium Road and other outlets of the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company at Challenge, Babo-Oko and Ita-Alamu Areas all within the state capital over hike in electricity tariff.
In Kaduna, Organised Labour joined counterparts across the country in picketing the Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company to demand a reversal of the electricity tariff hike.
In the early hours of Monday, members of the two labour centres went on surveillance in all the power stations of the Jos Electricity Distribution Company shutting down all operations in line with the directives of the national body.
(Editor: Terverr Tyav)
