Electricity workers on Wednesday shut down major power stations due to the ongoing nationwide strike.
On Tuesday, the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) directed its members to go on strike over “contravention of workers’ conditions and default on the payment of entitlement by the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN)”.
TCN, however, appealed to the workers to suspend the proposed strike, assuring that steps had been taken to resolve the issues.
Goddy Jedy-Agba, minister of state for power, urged the union to give the government two weeks to address the issues raised and come up with proposals for an acceptable resolution.
As of the time of filing thsi report, Brand Spur Nigeria gathered that the electricity union have shut down the Kaduna regional headquarters of the TCN in line with the directive of the union’s national leadership.
The regional station covers four states in the north-west, including Kaduna, Kebbi, Sokoto and Zamfara.
In a statement on Wednesday via its verified Twitter handle, @IkejaElectric, the Disco announced the shutdown of operations.
The statement read partly, “Due to the ongoing nationwide picketing of Transmission Stations by the NUEE, we are currently experiencing disruption of power supply as most stations within our network have been shut down.
“Kindly bear with us as we await an amicable resolution by the relevant stakeholders.”
Meanwhile, power distribution has been halted completely in the entire South-East States.
Emeka Ezeh, Head of Corporate Communications, EEDC, confirmed to DAILY POST that operations across the franchise area of the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company PLC (EEDC) have been disrupted.
He said, “as a result of this development all our feeders are out of supply and this has affected supply to our esteemed customers in Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo States.
“Consultations are ongoing among critical stakeholders in the power sector to address this issue and possibly restore supply.
“The Management of EEDC hereby encourage customers and neighbourhood associations to be vigilant and protect the electrical installations within their environment against elements who might take advantage of this outage to vandalise these installations.”
“We, therefore, appeal for continued patience and understanding while this is resolved,” he noted.
Also, in a circular titled, ‘Call to Action,’ which was addressed to senior assistant general secretaries and zonal organising secretaries, dated August 15, 2022, the General Secretary of the NUEE, Joe Ajaero, directed electricity workers to ensure total compliance, vowing to paralyse operations of the TCN nationwide over anti-masses activities.
Reacting to the development, Ikeja Electric said it is currently experiencing disruption of power supply due to the strike.
National Union Of Electricity Employees (NUEE) is set to embark on an industrial strike at all power stations controlled by Transmission Company. #EKEDC #EkoDisco #EkoElectricity #EmpoweringQualityLives pic.twitter.com/daKxwSbDkr
— Eko Electricity Distribution Company (@EKEDP) August 16, 2022
With the development, the nation’s electricity supply crisis could worsen from today as the organised labour had directed workers in the power sector to shutdown and commence an indefinite strike over pending issues with the TCN.
Meanwhile, Brand Spur Nigeria gathered that Chris Ngige, minister of labour and productivity, is currently in a meeting with electricity workers, who have shut down their services nationwide, for an urgent meeting in Abuja.
