Chris Ngige, minister of labour and employment, has urged Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) to rescind its planned warning strike over the new electricity tariff in the overall interest of the nation.
The NLC National Administrative Council (NAC) at its meeting in Abuja recently, resolved to embark on nationwide protest and strike as part of efforts to compel Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) to reverse the new electricity tariff.
Ngige, who called for the understanding of the organised labour, however, emphasised the need for “investors in the power sector to provide decent working environment for their staff members.”
The minister also assured that the “Ministry will no longer tolerate unfair labour practices”, just as he urged workers to give their utmost in promotion of productivity.
“The dispute over the increment in electricity tariff is right before the National Assembly and it is only right that as law abiding social partners that all parties afford the National Assembly to arbitrate. The Chairman of NLC is not here but this occasion offers a crucial avenue for me to state government’s position on this hot button issue,” the minister said.
Speaking at the opening of the National Working Committee of NLC, Ayuba Wabba, NLC president, expressed displeasure over the poor services delivery after the taking over of the privatised assets of the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN).
Wabba, who described the new tariff as “illegal, unfair, unjustifiable and a further exploitation of the already exploited Nigerians,” argued “due process in the extant laws for such an increment was not followed in consonance with Section 76 of the Power Sector Reform Act, 2005.
