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…Kicks against electricity tariff hike
From Adanna Nnamani, Abuja
The Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC), has urged the the Committee on National Minimum Wage to hasten its activities so as to lessen the sufferings of workers.
Festus Osifo, the President of TUC, made the call at a press briefing on Thursday in Abuja, following the union’s National Executive Council (NEC) meeting.
He said: “The government has to do everything possible to ensure that this is fast-tracked. Because the only way you can inflate your economy is when you empower the working class. The only way you can inflate your economy is when people have money to purchase goods in the supermarket.
“When people have money to go to the regular market to purchase items. If there is no money to purchase these items, if the purchasing power parity is relatively low, what is going to happen is that the manufacturers will produce their goods and they will keep it in the shelves. Because there would not be patronage from the people.
“So, we demand that the Committee on Minimum Wage should hasten the activities so that a new minimum wage will be put in place. This is the only way that the economy will be will be re-inflated” he stated.
The union leader also asked the federal government to speed up work at the Port Harcourt refineries in order to address the problem of fuel crises in the country.
He noted that contractors and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Ltd had previously assured that the refinery would operate efficiently by the first week of April 2024 during an inspection earlier in the year.
He said: “During that inspection, the contractors and those that are employees of NNPC told us clearly that refinery is going to come into fruition at the first week of April or thereabout.
“Today, we are approaching the end of April and production has not resumed in the old Port Harcourt refinery
“We wish to hereby call on the government to do everything within its antenna to ensure that the old Port Harcourt refinery starts production immediately. You could go outside today and you can see queues everywhere in FCT and in some other neighbouring states.
“But we firmly believe that if our refineries were working optimally today, such queues would note have been there.”
While commending the oil and gas production initiatives, Osifo stressed the importance of increasing crude oil production in order to enhance foreign exchange reserves and stabilize the naira in relation to the economy.
According to him, “Recently, the President signed an executive order regarding some incentives for oil and gas production because today there is a reduction in investment in the oil and gas industry. If you could remember in our last press briefing, we clearly stated that part of the reason we are having shortage of Fx today is because of our reduced crude oil production.
“If this country go back to the era we were producing 2.2 to 2.5 million barrels of crude per day, the inflow of forex amidst the high cost of crude oil today in the international market will give us a lot of foreign exchange in our country and it will help us in stabilizing the naira.”
“We are urging the government to deepen the fiscal incentives because today crude oil is found literally everywhere in the world. Gone were those days when crude was just found in about four or five six countries in Africa. Today, crude oil is literally in almost every country in the world so we encourage the government to continuously move in this path.”
The TUC President further condemned the hike in electricity tariff, saying that the decision did not follow due process. He called for provision of meters to every consumer for accountability.
“Today we looked at the state of power and electricity and the recent hike in the electricity tariffs. The increment was done in a hurry. The process and the procedure was not followed. There are processes to be met before you increase tariffs, there should be stakeholder engagement. And we have resolved that the government must follow the due process aspect of the law.
He added that, “Part of the demand is that there should be mass metering. Every single house in Nigeria should have a prepaid meter. By then, you will pay for only what you consume and the estimated billing will become a thing of the past. And there must be stakeholder engagement. Whenever it is being hintted, that tariff of electricity is about to be increased, there must be that engagement because it is through that engagement and social dialogue that all the cards will be put on the table.”
The Labour Leader praised Borno, Oyo, Rivers, Ebonyi, Bayelsa, Lagos, and the FCT for their efforts in alleviating the hardships faced by Nigerians through wage awards, palliatives, and other effective measures. He however, expressed concerns regarding the failure of states like Benue, Anambra, Delta, and others to implement strategies to tackle the challenges experienced by workers and the general populace in their regions.
