The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has criticized the federal government’s silence on the April 3 electricity tariff increase as disappointing.
The NLC communicated this in a statement on Tuesday following its National Executive Council meeting, where it decided to suspend its indefinite strike for one week.
This situation arises after the federal government agreed in a meeting with organized labor on Monday to set a minimum wage higher than N60,000.
However, the government has yet to address the second part of labor’s demand, which concerns reversing the electricity tariff hike.
The NLC expressed its disappointment over the government’s silence and lack of concrete action regarding the reversal of the electricity tariff increase and the abolition of the apartheid-like classification of electricity consumers into Bands.
“The NEC reaffirms that these issues are critical to alleviating the financial burden on Nigerian workers and the general populace. The electricity tariff hike and discriminatory Band classification remain unacceptable and must be addressed alongside the wage increase,” it stated.
Recall that on April 3, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) approved a tariff increase of over N200 per kWh for customers receiving 20-24 hours of power supply.
The hike generated significant reactions among Nigerians.
In response, the government announced a minor reduction of N18, lowering the tariff to N208.80 per kWh for Band A customers.
However, unsatisfied with this reduction, the NLC, the Trade Union Congress, and other organizations demanded the complete reversal of the electricity tariff hike.
This was part of the demands presented to the federal government, alongside the issue of minimum wage.
