Nigeria has been thrown into total darkness following an industrial action embarked upon on Wednesday by electricity workers, under the auspices of National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) and the Senior Staff Association of Electricity and Allied Companies (SSAEAC).
The electricity grid dropped from 4,000 megawatts to 762mw immediately the industrial action began on Wednesday.
The labour unions shut down major stations of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) across the country, cutting power supply to electricity consumers.
Some of the state affected as of the time of this report include Lagos, Ogun, Kano, Katsina, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kebbi, Sokoto, Zamfara, Abuja, Rivers, Bayelsa, Cross River and Akwa Ibom, Nasarawa, Niger, Kogi and others.
In a notice to its customers, the management of Kaduna Electric attributed the interruption of supply experienced to the ongoing industrial dispute.
Similarly, the management of Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company (PHED) also attributed the blackout to the shutting down of some of its feeders/locations.
“…we are unable to supply power to our esteemed customers from such feeders,” the notice read.
The management of Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) in a statement, also attributed interruption of power supply in the states it services to the ongoing industrial issues and assured that normal power supply would be restored as soon as the issues are resolved.
The labour unions had earlier on Tuesday, grounded the operations of TCN nationwide with the picketing of its office across the country for reneging on the agreement it had reached with the unions some years ago.
The aggrieved electricity workers who had vowed to paralyse the operations of TCN over its anti-masses activities said that the exercise that they carried out on Tuesday was a prelude to the indefinite strike action which commenced today.
The unions complained about the alleged failure of the federal government to pay the entitlements of former staff of the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) in December 2019.
In a circular entitled “call to action”, the general secretary of NUEE, Joe Ajaero, directed the electricity workers to ensure total compliance, vowing to paralyse operations of TCN nationwide over anti-masses activities.
The federal government had earlier, through the minister of state for Power, Goddy Jedy-Agba, appealed to the union and demanded they suspend the strike action, with a promise to get back to the union in two weeks
“The Ministry of Power takes cognisance of your complaints therein and is committed to offering solutions that will be acceptable to all parties concerned,” he said.
