Grace Omachoko
President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Joe Ajaero, has spearheaded a protest against the recent electricity tariff hike at the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) headquarters in Abuja on Monday.
The organized labour movement initiated nationwide protests in response to the electricity tariff hike and the removal of subsidy from the power sector by the Federal Government.
Reports from the scene indicated that protesters forcibly entered the NERC complex. Workers, represented by the NLC and the Trade Union Congress, flooded various offices of electricity distribution companies to voice their opposition to the Band A tariff increase.
The labour action was expected to result in the shutdown of the Abuja headquarters of the NERC, the Ministry of Power, and state offices of power distribution companies.
Recalled that, NERC had announced the tariff hike for Band A customers during a press briefing in Abuja on April 3, disclosing that affected customers would now be charged N225 per kilowatt-hour, up from the previous rate of N68/kWh.