The Nigeria Labour Congress has
said it would call out workers on industrial action if the Federal Government
implemented a proposed hike in electricity tarrifs.
It reminded the Minister of
Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, about the agreement reached by the Federal
Government – Organised Labour Committee on Electricity Tariff on September 28,
2020.
The meeting had agreed to freeze
further increases in electricity tariff until the committee concludes its work
and its report adopted by all the principals in the committee.
The NLC President, Ayuba Wabba,
handed down the notice in reaction to speculations that the 11 power distribution
companies have received approval to slightly increase electricity tariffs with
effect from September 1.
The hint came from an August 25
notification to customers from the Eko Electricity Distribution Company titled,
‘Re: Tariff increase notification,’ purportedly signed by the General Manager,
Loss Reduction, Olumide Anthony-Jerome.
The notice claimed that the
approval was from the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission.
It read, “This is to officially
notify you that there will be an increase in electricity tariff with effect
from September 1, 2021. This increase is as a result of the nationwide mandate
to implement the Service Based Tariff approved by our regulators.
“Kindly note that the increase
will be reflected on the energy bill for October 2021, which will represent
energy consumption for September.
“In addition, for our metered
customers with internal vending arrangements, we urge you to adjust the rates
accordingly to reflect the new tariff increase as released by the NERC.”
According to the newly approved
plan, customers with lower power consumption capacity have their rates
increased by N2 per kilowatts hour from N54.08/kwh to N56.08/kwh and are
promised at least 20 hours of supply daily.
MD1 customers on Band A will pay
N58.94/kwh from N56.94/kwh.
However, Eko DisCo denied the
said notice, saying customers would be informed of any change on its website.
But reacting to the reports in a
statement on Wednesday titled, ‘Notice on speculations on increase in
electricity tarrifs,’ Wabba cautioned that the organised labour would not brook
any tarrifs hike.
He stated, “We wish to draw your
attention to the wave of speculation, especially as widely reported in the
media that there are fresh plans to grant approval to Electricity Distribution
Companies to hike electricity tariff.
“We write to remind the
Honourable Minister that Organised Labour on September 28, 2020, through the
Federal Government – Organised Labour Committee on Electricity Tariff agreed to
freeze further increases in electricity tariff until the committee concludes
its work and its report adopted by all the Principals in the Committee.
“It is in light of this that we
dismiss the ongoing speculation on increase in electricity tariff as mere
speculations.
“We, however, find it prudent to
put you on notice that should government make true the swirling speculation by
approving an increase in electricity tariff, Organised Labour would be left
with no option than to deploy the industrial mechanisms granted in our laws for
the defense of workers’ rights.”
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