Officials of the Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress have sealed the offices of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission Transmission Company of Nigeria and Jos Electricity Distribution Company in Bauchi.
This action comes as a result of alleged non-compliance with letters requesting electricity operators and regulators to reduce electricity costs and introduce consumer bands in the state.
Members of the NLC and TUC gathered at the main office of JEDCo, sealing the entrance and preventing staff and visitors from entering.
They then proceeded to seal the NERC and TCN offices in different locations within Bauchi metropolis.
During the peaceful protest, members of the two unions were seen displaying placards with various inscriptions, such as ‘NLC/TUC Says No To Exploitation’, ‘No Segregation in Power Supply’, and ‘No More Band A, B, or even Z’.
Bauchi State NLC Chairperson, Comrade Dauda Shuaibu, addressed union members, informing them that the State Working Committee had convened a meeting in Abuja on April 30.
During this meeting, they wrote to the Distribution Companies demanding an immediate reversal of the new tariff.
“The joint NEC of the NLC and TUC wrote the same letter to them to reverse the tariff, and we issued a letter which we are expecting them to reverse. Their failure to reverse it is the result of what we are implementing here this morning and across the nation.
“We have received reliable information that the JEDC office in Yelwa is selling units and making remittances, we are going there to stop that. We will ensure that the entire office were shut down, no operations.
“It’s a clarion call for all of us to stand resolutely. We have started this struggle, and there is no going back until the new tariff on electricity is reversed.
“We know how we are suffering, and everyone knows that Nigerians are facing hard times. Even with the increase, the supply is not there.
“Therefore, we are calling on the Federal Government to immediately reverse it. Otherwise, there is no going back, we will shut down the whole electricity supply system in this country,” he said.
