The Nigeria Labour Congress,NLC, and the Trade Union Congress, TUC, have labelled the privatisation of the power sector a failure and demanded for its immediate reversal.

The call was made by the organized labour on Monday in Abeokuta, during a protest against the increase in electricity tariff and removal of power sector subsidies by the Federal Government.

JomogNews reports that during the demonstration, members of the NLC and TUC sealed off the office of the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company, IBEDC, in the Leme area of Abeokuta.

Addressing journalists, Akeem Lasisi, the TUC chairman for Ogun State, chastised the Nigerian energy Regulation Commission, NERC, for raising energy rates without first contacting organised labour or other relevant stakeholders.

“We woke up to hear the announcement of the NERC that they have increased the electricity tariff to N225 per kilowatt per hour without consulting major stakeholders in the power sector.

“We reject this totally, workers are mostly hit because amidst this increase our salaries remain stagnant. Amidst the increase in school fees, amidst the increase in exchange rate, amidst the increase in prices of commodities and services in the country, our own salaries remain stagnant.

“DISCOs that could not install prepaid meters to all electricity consumers should not have the guts to increase electricity tariff. That is why we are saying that the privatisation policy should be automatically reversed.

“NERC should concentrate more on regulating the DISCOs rather than increasing the electricity tariff. We are saying that Nigerians should not be shortchanged. This policy should be stopped, Nigerians should be allowed to breathe, enough is enough, we reject this totally,” Lasisi said.

Also speaking, the state’s NLC chairman, Hameed Benco, urged President Bola Tinubu to persuade NERC to reverse the increment in electricity tariff.

Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, on Sunday threw his weight behind the planned picketing of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission headquarters and offices of the Electricity Distribution Companies across the country on Monday over the hike in electricity tariff.

The Organised labour under the auspices of the Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress, had a few days ago issued NERC a May 12 deadline to reverse the hike in electricity tariff to N65/kwh or risk having its commission and DISCO offices nationwide picketed.

To show they meant business, the unionists directed its state branches and affiliates in a warning letter jointly signed by NLC President, Joe Ajaero and his TUC counterpart, Festus Osifo, to mobilise their members in readiness for the picketing if the Federal Government and NERC fail to heed their warning.

Reacting to the development, Falana argued that the proposed action is justified and is equally provided for in Nigeria’s Labour Act.

The Senior Advocate of Nigeria endorsed the planned picketing when he was featured as a guest on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Sunday.

According to him, NERC failed to follow due process and did not engage the stakeholders before taking such an unpopular decision.

He said, “There is provision for picketing under the Labour Act in Nigeria and that is what the Labour centres will begin tomorrow. They are going to picket the headquarters of NERC and offices of the DISCOs to register their protest against the illegal increase in electricity tariff.

“This is because the Nigeria Electricity Regulation Commission did not follow due process and didn’t conduct a public hearing as required by the Electricity Act 2023. I hope the NERC will engage and discuss with the Labour movement and see what can be done to reverse the hike.

“Again, the increase was anchored on the assumption that there will be regular electricity supply for at least 20 hours. But that has not been the case. If DISCO cannot meet the electricity supply, people have no right to pay the increased tariff.”

Continuing, the senior lawyer raised a concern that it would be unfair and insensitive of any government to supply darkness and expect its citizens to pay for electricity tariffs.

He also frowned at the development, saying it is becoming obvious that privatisation has failed ‘woefully’ in Nigeria.

“By virtue of Section 116 of the Electricity Act 2023, you can only justify a hike in tariff if you supply the electricity. There must be evidence that there is an improvement in electricity supply. But if Nigerians have to power their offices or business premises with generators in the face of epileptic electricity supply, it is difficult to justify.

“Again when they talk about unbundling, to the best of my knowledge, the majority of the DISCOs have been acquired by the government because of their toxic loans. As of the time, the DISCOs were distributed and sold in 2013. That sector has become self-sufficient. The government was no longer subsidizing the sector.

“So we must find out what happened between then and now. If the government is thinking of unbundling again, it must sit down with the workers and engage in consultation in the country. This is because privatisation has failed woefully in Nigeria. I think the Senate has once called on the government to take back all the DISCOs and take firm control.

“We cannot increase tariffs when the majority of our people are supplied with darkness. I am not even talking of those in Band B, C and D. We are only talking of Band A for now and there is no basis for such discrimination.”

United Nations (UN) in Nigeria, led by the Resident Coordinator, Assistant Secretary-General Mohamed Malick Fall has committed to galvanizing the private sector for stronger partnerships and more impactful investments towards acceleration of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

This is part of the goals of its partnership with the Sterling One Foundation geared towards building more effective multi-sectoral partnerships on impact investments in critical sectors through the Africa Social Impact Summit (ASIS).

Last year, the UN and Sterling One Foundation co-convened the Summit with the support of various stakeholders working towards sustainable development. Since then, the UN Country Team (UNCT) has focused on using the platform to emphasize the role of partnerships in driving SDGs towards agenda 2030.

Mr. Mohamed Fall described such partnerships as important in galvanizing coordinated social impact support by the private sector, which is essential for rescuing the SDGs in Nigeria.

“What the UN System offers to such partnerships is coordinated and complimentary efforts to assist the most vulnerable households and ensure no one is left behind,”he added.

Sharing her thoughts on what to expect from a second year of co-convening with the UN, Mrs. Olapeju Ibekwe, CEO of Sterling One Foundation highlighted the huge opportunities for including more sectors and investors in this year ‘s summit.

“What we hope to achieve this year is to build on the momentum we have gained from two years by engaging decision-makers from the private sector and other key sectors to move from commitments to action, as shown in the design of this year’s edition,” she said.

In addition to panel sessions on key issues ASIS 2024 will feature more sector-specific workshops focusing on SDG progress and solutions for acceleration.

The 2024 edition will be held from July 25 – 26, 2024 at the Eko Convention Centre, Lagos, and is open to leaders across the public and private sectors. More details on registration and other parts of the Summit can be found at www.theimpactsummit.org.

Photo caption:
From right: Mohamed M. Malick Fall, UN Nigeria Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator with Olapeju Ibekwe, CEO, Sterling One Foundation, co-conveners of the Africa Social Impact Summit 2024 during partnership conversations in Abuja recently.