There was a general disruption in electricity supply in some locations on Monday as workers under the auspices of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) stormed the headquarters of Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company (Ikedc), to protest over the Band A tariff hike.
The workers, sighted at the corporate headquarters of Ikeja-Eletric, were calling for the reversal of the Band A tariff.
There was also power outage in some locations such as Ojodu-Berger and Ogba areas.
Nigerian Tribune gathered that the outage might not be unconnected to the ongoing protest by workers.
Before now, TUC and NLC had indicated plans to picket the offices of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) and distribution companies (DisCos)’s premises nationwide over the hike in electricity tariff.
According to a press release sent out to all the NLC affiliates and offices nationwide, the unions stated: “We write to inform you of the picketing action scheduled to take place in the offices of the NERC and Electricity Distribution companies (DISCOS) in all states, including the FCT,”
The statement jointly signed by NLC’s Ag General Secretary Chris Uyot and his TUC counterpart Anka Hassan stated, “The action will jointly take place on Monday, 13th of May, 2024 nationwide simultaneously.”
“Therefore, the two Labour centres are directed to work together to carry out this important action. While counting on your usual cooperation, kindly accept the assurances of our goodwill and highest regards.”
Their action followed a hike in the tariff for electricity consumers who enjoy at least 20 hours of daily power supply.
Though the NERC had reviewed the tariff, the labour unions said they were picketing the agency’s office as well as the premises of distribution companies after a Sunday reversal deadline failed.
The recent tariff hike for electricity consumers has continued to draw comments from several quarters.
With inflation rising to new highs and Nigerians grappling with the removal of petroleum subsidy, the increase in tariff was met with stiff opposition.
The Minister of Power Adebayo Adelabu said the Federal Government will pay about N1.8trn in electricity subsidy in 2024.
He argued that the Electricity Act of 2023 made provisions for the review of tariffs twice yearly.
“Review of tariff is legal once it is within the exclusive responsibility of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC),” he said in recent television interviews.