The Oyo State Chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), have joined their counterparts across the country to picket the offices of the Nigerian Electricity Regulation Commission (NERC) and the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC), demanding total reversal of the hike in electricity tariff.
The picketing action, which was monitored by men and officers of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), witnessed members of staff of IBEDC being chased out of the buildings in line with the directive of the national secretariats of the unions, which demanded a total reversal of the electricity tariff by the Federal Government, without which the offices will be shut down until its request is acceded to.
The electricity tariff was hiked from N65/kwh to N225/Kwh by the Commission for Band A users.
The Oyo State NLC Chairman, Comrade Kayode Martins, disclosed that the picketing is just to pass a message to the IBEDC and NERC as regards the hike in the tariff of electricity, noting that Nigerians are already facing epileptic power supply and paying for what they are not enjoying.
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He said: “We are fed up of inhuman policies being rolled out by our leaders. As of today, to live in Nigeria has become a crime. We find it difficult to relate with other countries, now we are enslaved in our father’s land. Sometimes ago, Federal Government removed subsidy on everything making life unbearable for Nigerian citizens.
“We are here today to say enough is enough, they should please let the poor breathe in this country. We are begging, we are wailing, we are crying to them to let the poor breathe. That is the only thing we are agitating for,” Martins appealed.
Furthermore, the Vice Chairman of Oyo TUC, Comrade Ranti Oluwemimo, said many people, particularly the youth, are willing to leave the country because the leaders have made it inhabitable for them.
She posited that the Federal Government did not put necessary measures in place before removing the subsidy, saying all the union wants is the total reversal of the price of electricity.
Oluwemimo stated: “When they wanted to contest, they promised us good life, they promised us better life, they said there would be a change, we voted them in and they are making life difficult for us, enough of this. Things must come back to normal.”
Comrade Abiodun Bamgboye, who spoke on behalf of Campaign for Democratic and Workers’ Right (CDWR), advised the Federal Government to reverse the current hike in the price of electricity, arguing that there is no justification for the hike in the electricity tariff because there is nothing that has shown that the Federal Government is subsidising electricity.
He stated: “Electricity has not been available to Nigerians and so, where does the subsidy come from or who are people who have been receiving or benefiting from it? I think the argument around subsidy is just a plot to compound the economic hardship that the Nigeria people are going through at this material point in time.
“We feel that is uncalled for and that’s why we are calling on the Federal Government to reverse the current hike in the price of electricity.”
Some of the offices picketed are NERC, Iyaganku; IBEDC Headquarters and Regional Headquarters, Ring Road; IBEDC Staff Development Centers in Oluyole and Iyaganku; IBEDC, Dugbe; Transmission Company, Jericho; and IBEDC Apata Business units, all in Ibadan.
