waving the union’s flags.
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has threatened
industrial resistance following the increase in electricity tariffs
by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission
(NERC).
The Congress, in a statement released late on Tuesday night and
signed by the President, Ayuba Wabba, said the Federal Government
should reverse the increase immediately or face an “unprecedented
industrial resistance by Nigerian workers.”
They condemned the action of the Federal Government noting that
the new increase will affect manufactures and producers of
“Made-in-Nigeria” goods and services who will find it greatly
difficult to cope.
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Another Betrayal Of Trust, Says Labour Union
“There is no gainsaying the fact that this tariff hike would
sound the death knell for many manufacturing outfits in Nigeria as
many of them would resort to either mass lay-off of workers and or
direct importation of finished goods.
“In light of the heightened burden that this hike in electricity
tariff imposes on Nigerian workers and people, we urge the Federal
Government to quickly withdraw this uncanny New Year Gift or face
an unprecedented industrial resistance by Nigerian workers,” Wabba
said in the statement.
The increase in electricity tariff was announced on Wednesday
following an adjustment of tariff by the NERC.
The approval was given in a Multi-Year Tariff Order (MYTO)
signed by the new NERC Chairman, Sanusi Garba, and obtained
by Channels Television on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the Minister of State for Labour and Employment,
Festus Keyamo, in an interview on Channels Television’s Politics
Today denied the increase. He noted that what was done was to
adjust certain bands and to ensure that certain persons who are
supposed to be on some bands are not wrongly put on some other
bands.
See NLC’s full statement below…
While Nigerians were trying to embrace the warmth of the New
Year, the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) in its
‘wisdom’ decided to slam the country with the cold hug of yet
another astronomical increase in electricity tariff. This increase
would be the umpteenth time in a space of less than one year.
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) vehemently condemns this
attempt to start the Year 2021 for Nigerians on the grinding stone.
It is even colder that this tariff increase was announced without
recourse to the negotiation process that the government and
Organized Labour in Nigeria signed up to about three months
ago.
The representatives of Organized Labour in the committees set up
during negotiation with the government to engage on issues in our
electricity and petroleum sectors heard of this insensitive hike
from the media like other Nigerians. This is indeed a stellar
performance in negotiation in bad faith by the Federal
Government. This is completely unacceptable to the working
people of Nigeria.
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It is very awful and indeed cruel for government to introduce
yet another killer electricity tariff amidst the soaring inflation
and poverty rates in the country. This hike also comes in the face
of the renewed onslaught of COVID-19 where workers and citizens
expend their meagre resources on healthcare both for preventive and
therapeutic response to the renewed COVID-19 challenge.
We really fear for the impact of this new increase on
manufacturing in Nigeria. Certainly, the producers of
“Made-in-Nigeria” goods and services will find it greatly difficult
to cope with this new tariff. Before now, many manufacturing
concerns and Small to Medium Enterprises were already reeling in
the great strain as a result of the negative growth occasioned by
the first wave of the COVID pandemic in 2020.
There is no gainsaying the fact that this tariff hike would
sound the death knell for many manufacturing outfits in Nigeria as
many of them would resort to either mass lay-off of workers and or
direct importation of finished goods.
Finally, we are bothered by the doublespeak in the NERC
communique announcing this hike in tariff. In one breath, NERC
denied any new increase in tariff. In another breath, it announced
that electricity tariff would be adjusted from N2 per kilowatt/hour
to N4 per kilowatt/hour – a 100% tariff increase. The statement in
quick reversals also lumped consumers in Band D and E under the new
tariff. This volte-face is contrary to our agreement with the
government which excluded Band D and E from further increases in
electricity tariff. This clearly paints a picture of the deliberate
mission by the government to hoodwink and take Nigerians for a
ride.
Overall, this increase in electricity tariff apart from negating
the agreement we reached with the government in September 2020 will
further imperil our local economy, lead to the loss of millions of
jobs by Nigerian workers and trigger wider social
discomfitures.
In light of the heightened burden that this hike in electricity
tariff imposes on Nigerian workers and people, we urge the Federal
Government to quickly withdraw this uncanny New Year Gift or face
an unprecedented industrial resistance by Nigerian workers.
Nigerians have bled enough already. We will bleed no more!
Comrade Ayuba Wabba
President NLC