Tag: blackout

Electricity Workers Suspend Nationwide Strike

 

The National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) has suspended its nationwide strike.

General Secretary of the Union, Joe Ajaero, said the action was called off in the early hours of Thursday following a tripartite meeting between the leaders of the union, BPE and the Minister of State for Labour, Festus Keyamo.

The union had earlier commenced the industrial action on Wednesday after a 21-day ultimatum issued to the Minister of Power Saleh Mamman.

READ ALSO: Reps Summon Labour, Power Ministers Over Planned Electricity Workers’ Strike

Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDP) in a tweet on Thursday said following the suspension of the strike by NUEE, they are back to business. They also thanked their customers for their patience while the strike lasted.

“Dear customer, National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) has suspended its strike. Our offices & payment channels are open for business. Thank you for your patience & understanding,” the tweet read.

 

Part of the demands of the electricity workers is the call for the settlement of unresolved workers claims after the privatization of the power sector by the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE).

Other unresolved issues are illegal transfer of union properties to power investors and the alleged refusal by some distribution companies (discos) to remit deducted contributory pension of their members of staff to pension managers.

Power Situation: FG Blames Sabotage, Apologises To Nigerians

power supply in NigeriaThe Nigerian government has blamed the prevailing power situation on gas failure as well as sabotage and power infrastructure vandalism.

The government also apologising to Nigerians for the hardship which the situation has imposed on them.

Giving reasons for the near total blackout witnessed across Nigeria in the last few days, the Minister of Information and Culture, Mr Lai Mohammed, told reporters on Friday that efforts were being made to rectify the situation and ensure a gradual improvement in the power situation.

”There will be a decent improvement in the power situation from this weekend, thanks to ongoing remedial efforts that will double the current power supply to 4,000WM.

“Getting back to the 5,074MW all-time high that was reached earlier will take a few more weeks,” he said.

Mr Mohammed said that the routine maintenance by the Nigeria Gas Company had affected the supply of gas to power stations, forcing down power supply from an all-time high of 5,074 MW to about 4,000MW and that a combination of unsavoury incidents further crashed the power supply to about half that figure.

”The Forcados export pipelines vandalism forced oil companies to shut down, making it impossible for them to produce gas.

“Then, workers at the Ikeja Discos, who were protesting the disengagement of some of their colleagues after they failed the company’s competency test, apparently colluded with the National Transmission Station in Osogbo to shut down transmission.

”Finally, the unfortunate strike by the unions at the NNPC, over the restructuring of the Corporation, shut down the Itarogun Power Station, the biggest in the country. Due to these factors, only 13 out of the 24 power stations in the country are currently functioning.

“It is this same kind of unsavoury situation that has affected fuel supply and subjected Nigerians to untold hardship,” the Minister further stated.

He strongly condemned the situation in which some Nigerians, under the guise of the various unions in the oil and gas sector or sheer vandalism, would continuously sabotage the country’s power infrastructure.

”The bitter truth is that for as along as these groups of Nigerians continue to sabotage the power infrastructure, Nigerians cannot enjoy a decent level of power supply,” he stressed.

Mr Mohammed further urged all Nigerians who may be agitating for their rights in whatever form to refrain from any action that would further hurt Nigerians.