Electricity workers threaten strike over proposed sale of TCN

Workers in the electricity sector,  have threatened to shut down the power sector in the country should the Federal Government go ahead with the sales of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN).
The workers under the umbrella of the National Union of Electricity Employees of Nigeria (NUEE) with the backing of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) insisted that the process would lead to collapse of power sector,yesterday warned that it would not hesitate to resume its industrial action suspended in December, 2019, due to the intervention of the National Assembly. 
Recall that the union embarked on an industrial action over non implementation of agreements reached with the Federal Government over the 2013 Privatization and other salient issues bedevilling the Power Sector.
“This memo serves as notice to Nigerians that the Union will resume it’s suspended industrial action for the non implementation of agreements reached in the meetings brokered by the leadership of the House of Representatives and Ministry of Labour,” the union said. 
Joe Ajaero, the General Secretary of NUEE in a statement said the workers in the sector were alarmed by the Federal Government’s planned sale of TCN as reported in one of the dailies. 
“It is embarrassing to say the least that anybody in the name of Privatization will contemplate the continued disposal of critical National Economic assets to Private Corporate Organizations who act as fronts for a few that have benefited immensely from the whole process since November 1, 2013 to the detriment of Nigerian masses,” he said.
According to him, “three key Officers of the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC)- GM (Engineering), GM (Enforcement) and GM (Public Affairs) are working with a few ‘Hawks’ in the Ministry of Power who do not understand the concept in Power Generation, Transmission and Distribution; to carry out their selfish personal privatization agenda and milk the nation off it’s vital economic assets. They have gathered to call a dog a bad name just to hang it.
“The ‘Hawks ‘had once deceived this country to grant about N1.5trillion to same characters it sold its Distribution and Generation facilities at a ridiculous rate of about N400bn”. 
He lamented that after eight years, the privatization of the Power Sector, yielded no visible improvement in terms of power supply, expansion or investments by the new owners of the DisCos and GenCos, saying this position has enjoyed wide attestation by Nigerians up to the National Assembly.
Ajaero stated that in the Sector’s performance chain today, the Transmission network with a wheeling capacity of 8,000MW has been strengthened to comfortably wheel out power generated by the Generation Companies whose average operational generation output is far below the total installed generation capacity (they are not generating full capacities).
He added that Nigerians have had to grapple with darkness as the DisCos reject energy wheeled to them by Transmission Company of Nigeria.
He said, “Why would the Federal Government want to Privatize TCN with the improvement made in terms of expansion and strengthened transmission network? The 5-yearly performance appraisal process provided for in the Electric Power Sector Reforms (EPSR) Act, 2005 has been jettisoned despite calls by Nigerians to review the performances of the Sector players.
“A dime has never been declared as profit for Government’s 40% asset ownership in the privatized Companies till date, yet it remains a pitiable tale of ‘Private gain, Public disaster.”
The union therefore called on the National Assembly and Nigerians in general to resist the push for the sale of TCN which will further leave the nation with regrets.
The union scribe emphasised that the proposed sales was a plan to further enslave Nigerians based on hemlock prescriptions of the IMF, World Bank and Britton Wood institutions and surely will meet the resistance of the masses and workers of Nigeria; who lost their jobs in thousands, some without pay and Nigerians who have been paying for darkness with the over 400 percent tariff increase for services not rendered.
He added, “With the non implementation of the agreements reached with Labour eight (8) years after, worsening power supply situation, exploitative tariff imposition on toiling people of Nigeria, and projected 200 percent increase in tariff in the first year of TCN Privatization,  the struggle will be between the oppressors and the oppressed.
‘A slave has nothing to lose than his chains'”
The Nigeria Labour Congress has equally warned that the planned sales would be a kite that would not fly as Nigerian workers would resist it with all their might.