The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has warned that it would mobilize Nigerians to protest against hike in electricity tariff.
The president of the NLC, Ayuba Wabba gave the warning in Lagos on Tuesday.
He said, “The Tariff increase cannot be the answer to power failure in Nigeria, rather it would lead to job loss and many businesses are going to close and this we would not allow to happen.
“The NLC would mobilise Nigerians against the increase and force the Discos and NERC to retract their steps.”
Wabba lamented that with a paltry N30,000 minimum wage, workers will struggle to pay the new tariffs and wondered why Nigerians are made to pay for epileptic power supply.
“It is clearly exploitation as no meters are provided and when provided they are not durable and the Discos just charge consumers as they like. So you see that consumers are at the receiving end of paying for light not provided” he said.
On the effects of epileptic power supply on the economy, he said, “Actually, we are going to the meeting with facts and figures of how many companies that have gone into extinction due to the problem of power and how many people would go should there be any increase.
“We have a report from Action Aid on how many companies have closed down and this we are ready to share with them at our meeting with NERC for them to know that we are talking from a knowledgeable background.”
He said that Federal Government instead of supporting the Discos on increasing tariff at will should come out boldly to let Nigerians know if the privatisation of the sector has failed.
“Government should let us know if the privatisation of the sector has failed. We have organisations that can run it effectively, we should be saved from all these trauma, “ he said
The new 35% hike in electricity tariff would commence on April 1.
