Electricity workers urge FG to reverse 245% tariff hike

By Innocent Raphael

Senior Staff Association of Electricity and Allied Companies (SSAEAC) has urged the Federal Government to reverse the 245 per cent electricity hike by electricity distribution companies.

National Secretary of the Association, Nnamdi Ajibo, disclosed this in a statement on Monday while reacting to the tariff hike for Band A electricity customers, as recently published by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).

Recall that the NERC had recently approved a tariff increase on Tuesday last week for Band A customers.

The Association which described the increase as insensitive and unacceptable, decried that the government had made no noticeable achievement in Nigeria’s power sector to warrant such an astronomical increase in tariff.

It added that it was inconsiderate of the present administration to want to implement all of its renewed hope agendas in a single calendar year.

The aggrieved workers added that the government should also reverse the failed privatization of the power sector.

The statement read in part, “We demand an urgent reversal to the status quo and acknowledge that exchange rates have also gone so high, thereby impacting the purchasing power of the common man.

“This government cannot implement the renewed hope agenda in one year. Worldwide, no nation treats its citizens this way and expects them to remain silent.

“There is nothing wrong in subsidizing electricity and other essential aspects of the national lives of our citizens.

“The federal government should, as a matter of urgency, reverse the entire privatization exercise and provide an enabling environment that will guarantee businesses to strive before searching for good managers to take over the management of the sector”.