. “We have been asked to suspend the action but we won wait for six months to resume the strike if the government fails to fulfill promises made,” Ajaero declares
. Grid Or Diesel: Between Pharaoh army and the red sea metaphor for Businesses in Nigeria
The electricity workers have called off strike its strike that crashed the National grid to zero megawatt (0MW) and surged the industry and business losses to N2.3 billion, Platforms Africa reports.
Head of the workers’ Union, Joe Ajaero who announced the suspension after a meeting with the government, declared that his group, National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) would not wait for six months to resume action if the government fails to make good its promises.
The staff of Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) under the aegis of the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE), who earlier ompletely shut down all power transmission substations across the country, have disrupted power supply to all the eleven electricity Distribution companies (DisCos).
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Data conpiled by Platforms Africa showed that the loss by the industry alone is about N2.23 billion with the diruotion nearing its first 24 hours.
Using the latest monthly report of the NBET, the DISCOs were issued an invoice of N266.9billion between January and April 2022, but could raise only N146.5billion, about 44.9 per cent.
The N266.9 billion quarterly receipts will in one month amounts to N66.725 billion while in one day is approximately N2.3 billion daily.
With all the DisCos declaring inability to supply, there won’t be a remittance of one day, about n2.23 billion by the time NBET finishes up its compilation for the month.
Platforms Africa gathered that peak power generation was 4,829.50 MegaWatts(MW), as the TCN was unable to transmit power to the eleven electricity Distribution Companies as of 3:30pm on Wednesday. This was based on data obtained by our correspondent via Nigeria System Operator, NSO’s portal.
It has also worsened business woes for small and medium scale businesses that now stand helplessly in-between the grid trouble and the skyrocketing prices of Automative Gas Oil (AGO) popularly called diesel.
The choice for businesses in Nigeria have been reduced to either grid zero megawatt or Diesel. You will pity a typical business man in Nigeria today who, based on the strike, has to metaphorically make a choice between Pharaoh army and the red sea.
The reason for the strike according to Joe Ajaero, head of NUEE, was over the directive issued by the TCN Board that all Principal Managers, PMs, in acting capacity going to Assistant General Managers, AGM, must appear for a promotion interview.
The Union said the directive is in contravention of our Conditions of Service and Career Progression Paths and unilaterally done without the relevant Stakeholders.
Ikeja Electric in a statement addressed to its customers on Wednesday said, “Due to the ongoing nationwide picketing of TCN substations by aggrieved workers, we are currently experiencing disruption of power supply as most stations within our network have been shut down.
IE however appealed to the customers to bear with its, promising amicable resolution by the relevant stakeholders.
Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution company in a statement also informed its customers that the industrial action embarked upon by NUEE, has affected some of its feeders/locations have been shut down by the Union.
Kaduna Electric in a statement also confirmed the interruption of supply witnessed in its franchise state.
AbdulAzeez Abdullahi, spokesperson of Kaduna Electric said, “The interruption is due in Kaduna, Kebbi , Sokoto and Zamfara was due to the ongoing disputes between the NUEE , Senior Staff Association of Electricity and Allied Companies (SSAEAC) the TCN.
The DisCo however promised to restore as soon as the contending issues are resolved
PHED said, “we regret any inconveniences caused by this situation and assure you that once that situation changes power supply will be restored.
Abuja Electricity Distribution Company(AEDC) has also in a statement confirmed disruption on its network.
The DisCo in a statement also said, “ We wish to inform our distinguished customers that the interruption being witnessed in our franchise area is due to the ongoing industrial issues
The DisCo in a statement also said, “ We wish to inform our distinguished customers that the interruption being witnessed in our franchise area is due to the ongoing industrial issues between NUEE and TCN.
“We assure all stakeholders that we are working hard to ensure that a mutual and amicable settlement is attained and power is restored forthwith.
The Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC) on its part announced that power supply disruption within the South-East was as a result of strike by electricity workers.
Mr Emeka Ezeh, Head, Corporate Communications of EEDC, on Wednesday in a statement, said, “Following the industrial strike embarked upon by the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) at the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), power stations operations across the franchise area of EEDC plc have been disrupted.
“As a result of this, all our feeders are out of supply and this has affected supply to our esteemed customers in Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo states,” he said.
According to him, consultations are ongoing among critical stakeholders in the power sector to address the issue and possibly restore supply.
“The management of EEDC hereby encourages customers and neighbourhood associations to be vigilant and protect electrical installations within their environment against elements who might take advantage of this outage to vandalise installations,” he said.
The EEDC spokesman also appealed for continued patience and understanding of the company’s esteemed customers “while this is resolved.”
