•Power firms: action counter-productive
Labour unions and their allies yesterday shut down electricity distribution (Discos) and generation companies (Gencos) offices nationwide over the 45 per cent hike in the electricity tariff by Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).
In most of the state capitals, where the protests led by leaders of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) were held, it resulted in heavy gridlocks and leading to businesses and offices being closed down.
Abuja: NLC President Comrade Ayuba Wabba led workers to the National Assembly, where he got the backing of Senate President Bukola Saraki on the need for a reversal of the tariff.
At the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company, where armed security men were kept on guard to prevent labour accessing the premises, Wabba said exploitation of the Nigerians must not be allowed to stand.
He said: “Any increase in this hard economic situation should not be allowed to stand. The exploiters should not be allowed to exploit us because this is our common wealth that has been sold to them. It is very clear that the management of the power sector cannot be left in the hands of those people, who cannot deliver…
“We are also sending warning to Discos and Geckos because we know that they are in alliance with the NERC and that alliance should not be allowed to stand. Any alliance that is against Nigerian people should not be allowed to stand…
“Therefore, we should not allow a situation where few will collaborate, including the Minister of Power. We are really disappointed because all the letters we have written to him, he has not even responded.”
President of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Comrade Boboli Agama, wondered whether the National Assembly was consulted before the increase in tariff was announced.
He said: “We are here to express our bitterness. For an organisation that is working for the bitterness of this country to wake up and say it has increased tariff is not acceptable. We are happy that when we engaged them last night, they confessed that they never consulted us and we wondered whether they have consulted the leadership of the National Assembly before the tariff was increased.”
In Lagos State, the protesters marched from Ikeja under-bridge to Ikeja Disco office in Alausa. This resulted in a heavy traffic along Awolowo Way/ Alausa road in the state capital.
Speaking during the protest, the NLC Vice President, Comrade Amaechi Asugwuni, who represented the NLC President, Comrade Ayuba Wabba, said the hike in tariff was inhuman and unjustified.
He decried the refusal of NERC to follow the laid down law, which stipulated that the Discos should give out prepaid meters to every electricity consumer within 18 months of their start of operations.
He said workers were ready to shut down the economy, if the Federal government refused to reverse the hike.
“Rather than see reason with Nigerians, the Minister of Power, Works and Housing has been advancing spurious argument in justification,” he said.
Deputy General Secretary, Nigeria Textile, Comrade Ismail Bello said the tariff increase was an anti-people’s policy, adding that labour was ready to fight it.
He called on the removal of Minister of Power, Works and Housing Babatunde Raji Fashola for violating the court order, which stopped the hike in tariff until the case is concluded.
“Nigeria cannot be an animal kingdom, where there is no order. For Fashola, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), to disobey court order, which had ordered a halt to this increase in tariff, means he is playing with jail and is not fit to be a minister. He should be removed with immediate effect for making mockery of a court judgment.
“He should obey court order or else he should be removed,” he said.
The Chief Finance Officer, Ikeja DISCO, Mr. Aigbe Olotu, said it was wrong for labour to picket the Discos because they were not responsible for the increment.
Kwara State: Scores of members of the NLC and TUC, led by their leaders, also sealed off the premises of Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEC) in Ilorin, the state capital.
The placards-carrying protesters also called for the resignation of the Minister Power, Works and Housing for not following due process before the increase.
Some of the inscriptions on the gate of IBEC in the ever-busy Challenge area of Ilorin read: ‘Stop your crazy bills’, ‘We cannot pay more for sick light’, ‘Provide prepaid meters and give us 24-hour uninterrupted light,’ and others.
Some of workers of the company, who arrived early, could not gain entrance. They were seen in groups discussing their plight.
At about 8am, a vehicle conveying some security operatives arrived at the scene and they urged the protesters not to allow the event to be hijacked by hoodlums.
Speaking with reporters, the state NLC Chairman, Yekinni Agunbiade, said due process was not followed before the tariff hike.
Oyo State: Hundreds of members of the NLC, TUC and civil society organisations stormed the streets of Ibadan in protest against the 45 per cent increase in the tariff.
The three major offices of the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC), including the Ring road Ibadan Headquarters, were picketed by the protesters in line with the directive of the NLC leadership.
The protest started as early as 8am from Monatan to Dugbe and ended at the Headquarters of the IBEDC on the Rind road, Ibadan.
The IBEDC workers could not wait to witness the picketing as they fled their offices.
The protesters included market men and women, students, artisans and members of transport unions.
There was traffic as the protesters moved through the major roads with placards condemning the hike in tariff.
In Kaduna State, NLC and TUC members, as early as 7am, stormed the zonal headquarters of the Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company (KEDCO) and locked the gate.
The labour union members, who chanted solidarity songs in between speeches, vowed to continue the protest until the Federal Government reverses the increment.
Former Deputy President of the NLC, Comrade Issa Aremu, who led the labour unions to picket the electricity distribution company, said it became necessary after effort to make the Federal Government to shelve the idea of the increment failed.
He said Nigerians were paying more than they consumed for electricity supply and wondered why the Federal Government should increase the tariff when the supply had not improved.
But the Managing Director/CEO of the Discos, Garba Haruna, an engineer, called on the protesting labour unions to stop the picketing of distribution companies, saying their action was counter-productive.
Ekiti State: The organised labour also shut down the Ado Ekiti Business Office of the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC).
Officials of the state councils of NLC, TUC, Joint Negotiating Council (JNC), National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), Nigerian Civil Service Union (NCSU), Academic Staff Union of Secondary Schools (ASUSS) and Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU) led the picketing at the BEDC office.
The labour leaders, who were led by the state TUC Chairman, Odunayo Adesoye, stormed the BEDC office at about 8.23am. They described the increase in electricity tariff as a “glaring robbery”, which must be resisted by Nigerians.
Workers of BEDC were chased out of the building in the presence of the officers of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), who had arrived at the place to ensure that the protest was not hijacked.
The protest led to traffic along the Ajilosun Highway. Some residents, who came for one transaction or the other, went home disappointed.
Adesoye described the tariff hike as “arbitrary and an extortion”, calling on the Federal Government to reverse the price. He vowed that the picketing would continue until their demands were met.
The state NLC Chairman, Ade Adesanmi, said Nigerians could not be paying for services not rendered, adding that the Discos owed Nigerians explanations on the new tariff.
Cross River State: The chairman of the state NLC, Comrade John Ushie, yesterday described the hike in electricity tariff as an economic crime.
Ushie, who stated this after picketing the Calabar office of the Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company (PHEDC), said the new tariff violates section 76 of power sector reform.
He said the law requires that every consumer should have a meter before any increase in tariff.
Ogun State: The state chapter of NLC also yesterday picketed the Abeokuta and Sagamu offices of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) over what they termed unjust and exploitative hike in tariff.
The NLC state chairman, Comrade Ambali, who led the picketing exercise, said the tariff hike was an act of insensitivity to the plights of electricity consumers.
Ambali noted that the organised labour staged the protest to rescue the masses “from the criminal and wicked hike”.
The NLC was joined in the protest by TUC, Campaign for the Defence of Human Right (CDHR) and the electricity consumers, as they marched on major streets of Abeokuta and Sagamu metropolis to sensitise other electricity consumers against the new tariff.
Armed with placards bearing different inscriptions, the angry protesters barricaded the entrance to the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) offices on Moshood Abiola Way in Abeokuta and the one in Sagamu and prevented workers and customers from gaining access to their offices.
Ebonyi State: The offices of the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC) were shutdown yesterday as directed by the NLC and TUC leadership.
Chanting songs such “solidarity forever” and “We have decided to fight for the masses”, the workers besieged the head office of the distribution company as early as 8am.
They were led by the state NLC Chairman, Comrade Ikechukwu Nwafor and TUC Chairman Comrade Elias Oduma.
Their presence forced the EEDC’s workers to lock up their offices and stop collection of electricity bills.
Nwafor said “due process was not followed when increasing the tariff in consonance with section 78 of Power Reform”.
He added that “there has been no significant improvement in service delivery”.
Oduma said “most consumers have not been given meters in line with the Privatisation Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) of November 1, 2013, which stipulates that within 18 months gestation period, all consumers are to be metered”.
“There is a subsisting court order dated May 28, 2015 by Justice Mohammed Idris of the Federal High Court, Ikoyi, Lagos, in the case of Toluwani Yemi-Adebiyi versus NERC and others”, he added.
Edo State: Official activities were disrupted at the headquarters of the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) by a combined protest against hike in electricity tariff hike by the organised labour and members of the civil societies in the state.
The protest caused heavy vehicular traffic along major streets in Benin City. Vehicles were used to block the two entrance gates to the BEDC office. But officials of the Red Cross Society were on ground for any emergency.
The state chairman of NLC, Emmanuel Ademokun, said the protesters were at the BEDC premises to effect a reversal of the new electricity tariff.
Ademokun said they would not leave the BEDC premises until the tariff is cancelled.
Niger State: Business activities also came to a halt at the offices of the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) in Minna as the state chapter of NLC and TUC picketed the offices.
The members of organised labour, who arrived at the premises of AEDC at about 9am, asked workers who had already resumed to vacate the premises. The place was thereafter locked and sealed.
The state TUC Chairman, Taminu Yunusa, said there was no resistance by the workers, adding that they were complying with the directive of labour national bodies.
Security agents took over the premises to protect the property from vandals.
Kanos State: Workers also stormed the head office of Kano Electricity Distribution Company (KEDCO) over the new tariff regime.
The protesters, who chanted solidarity songs, carried placards with inscriptions such as “Trade union say no to unilateral & unlawful electricity increase”, “Baba Buhari! Save Nigeria” and others.
Speaking on behalf of the protesters, the state NLC chairman, Comrade Ado Minjibir, said their mission was to let the general public understand the cost implications of the 45 per cent sudden hike of electricity tariff.
He said it was left for the citizens to decide whether to pay or not.
But the National Association of Electricity Employees (NUEE) disassociated itself from the protest.
NUEE State Chairman Nasiru Ado Gezawa said the protest was wrongfully channeled to Discos.
He said it should have been directed at their regulatory body, who orchestrated the hike.
KEDCO Public Relations Officer Mr. Muhammed Kandi described the picketing as misplacement of priority, unreasonable and uncalled for.
Ondo State: Business activities were yesterday paralysed by labour unions in the state over what they called “astronomical increase in electricity tariff by the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC)”.
The protesting labour unions were joined in the solidarity protest by members of the landlord associations and civil society organisations.
They shut down operation at the office of the BEDC in Akure.
The protesters, who carried placards with several inscriptions, caused heavy traffic on the popular Isinkan/NEPA road for many hours.
Some of their placards read: “No meter, no payment”, “Compulsory metering of electricity consumers is disobeyed”, “45 per cent electricity tariff increase, an exploitation” and “Electricity is a social service and not to be commercialised”.
The state NLC Chairperson, Bosede Daramola, led the picketing.
Benue State: The NLC and civil society organisations (CSO) also staged a peaceful protest through major streets in Makurdi against the increased in electricity tariff.
They matched through Wurukum and terminated their protest at the Makurdi Business unit headquarters of PHCN.
They picketed the office, preventing people from going in or out.
The PHCN Business Manager John Emeruwa addressed the protesters and appealed for understanding, saying he would forward their complaints to higher authorities for consideration.
Osun State: Workers also locked the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) in Osogbo, the state capital.
Members of the organised labour pasted different banners with anti-government messages on the main entrance of the company to express their displeasure against the development.
However, the company’s Branding and Communication Manager, Mrs. Kikelemo Owoeye, could not be reached for comment.
But a senior staff of the company, Mr. Fisayo Ajayi, said the protest was peaceful and devoid of any rancour.
Abia State: Administrative and business activities at offices of the Enugu Distribution Company (EEDC) in Aba and other parts of the state were also crippled for over hours following the protest embarked by members of NLC.
As early as 7am, members of the NLC stormed EEDC offices Aba, the commercial hub of the state, forcing workers of the establishment that came early to work out of their offices.
The protesters later locked the entrance to the premises.
EEDC workers left for their homes after a long wait without any move by the labour union to shift ground.
Customers, who came to make payment or to complain, were left unattended to.