- NUEE issued the two-week ultimatum over the refusal to issue prepaid meters to Nigerians compelled to pay “crazy bills” imposed by DisCos.
- The union also complained of a lack of engagement with stakeholders in the sector.
The electricity workers under the aegis of the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) have issued a two-week ultimatum to the Minister of Power, Mr Adelabu Adebayo, over the refusal to issue prepaid meters to Nigerians. According to them, those affected were being compelled to pay “crazy bills” imposed by the electricity distribution companies (DisCos), while having less than 4,500 megawatt (MW) output of electricity.
The union disclosed this warning in a statement signed by the acting General Secretary of NUEE, Dominic Igwebike. Part of the unresolved issues include the refusal of most Generation Companies (GenCos), led by Egbin Power Plc, which allegedly had disobeyed all extant Labour laws since taking over in November 2013, and non-payment of 16 months arrears arising from severance, among others.
NUEE also complained of a lack of engagement with stakeholders in the sector. According to the union, the minister had not deemed it necessary to reach out to critical stakeholders in the power sector since his assumption of office. The union stated that the engagement is towards engendering effective collaboration, optimising productivity and increasing power output and the impeccable industrial relations atmosphere required to achieve them. NUEE added that rather, the minister had embarked on a media frenzy to misinform Nigerians and openly threaten workers in the sector.
The statement read in part. “In order to achieve impeccable improvements and rejuvenate the power sector, it is expedient that the federal government puts round pegs in round holes and not appointees whose qualifications are political considerations. It is on record that the power sector has not experienced any system collapse in over 400 days due to the industrious and hard-working members that make up the workforce. The Minister should be guided to the effect that the power sector did not experience any system collapse during the two days warning strike declared across the nation by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), which we are affiliated to. Should the Minister fail to address these issues within two weeks, he should preoccupy himself with recruiting NSA officials to run the Sector.”