Electricity workers union members locked out the Minister of Power, Chief Adebayo Adelabu, and other top officials of the Ministry and the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) over unresolved labor issues, including a federal government directive to deduct N2 billion from TCN’s account to fund power distribution companies (DisCos). The workers, who blocked access to the complex housing the Ministry and TCN, vowed not to open the gates until they met with the Minister.
The workers’ drastic action followed the Minister’s failure to meet with their union officials the previous Thursday. However, in a note to journalists, the Minister’s media aide, Bolaji Tunji, stated that the Minister was willing to meet with the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) and its senior staff association at a mutually agreed date.
The two in-house unions have rejected the government order to deduct N2 billion from TCN’s account to fund DisCos, describing it as unrealistic and an attempt to undermine TCN. In a joint letter to the Minister of Power, NUEE and the Senior Staff Association of Electricity and Allied Companies (SSAEAC) issued a two-week strike notice to the government, demanding the cessation of this practice among other issues. They called the deduction of N2 billion from TCN’s revenue as technical losses for DisCos mischievous and detrimental.
The unions reiterated their demands, including reversing the 300 percent hike in electricity tariffs and reviewing workers’ salaries. They argued that all deductions from TCN must stop immediately, and funds already deducted should be remitted back to TCN. They stressed the need for these funds to strengthen the aging and weak network to ensure stable and reliable energy supply.
Additionally, the unions demanded that staff in the sector be allocated electricity rebates (units) and insisted that Power Generation Companies (GenCos) should not receive revenue from TCN and DisCos until they allow unionization of their companies, as provided by the Labour Act. They also opposed the proposed unbundling of TCN without input from all critical stakeholders, urging the government to direct the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) to halt it.
The unions implored the Minister to reverse the tariff increase to maintain industrial peace and the sustainability of the electricity value chain. They warned that the current unilateral and detrimental decisions in the sector disregard critical stakeholders and threaten the welfare and survival of workers and the sector overall.
They criticized the Ministry and NERC for running the sector without involving critical stakeholders since the Minister assumed office. The unions enumerated several unfriendly policies, including the unilateral 300 percent tariff increase without stakeholder dialogue, the lack of consideration for worker salary reviews, and the deduction of 8 percent of TCN revenue as technical losses. They described these actions as political calculations to undermine TCN’s management and efficiency.
The unions condemned the monthly deduction of N2 billion from TCN’s account, calling it an unrealistic attempt to portray the management as incompetent. They demanded justification for such deductions, emphasizing the negative impact on workers’ salaries and welfare. They also opposed the 46.7 percent deduction from TCN revenue for project execution for DisCos, questioning the system of privatization being adopted.
The unions claimed that these orders from NERC aimed to weaken TCN’s operations and prepare it for liquidation, benefiting a few politically connected individuals. They vowed to resist any attempts to cede TCN’s infrastructure for political patronage.