The National Electricity Employees (NUEE) has issued a two-week ultimatum to the Minister of Power, Mr. Adelabu Adebayo, over refusal to issue prepaid metres to Nigerians who were being forced to pay what they called "crazy bills" imposed on them by electricity distribution companies despite having less than 4,500mw of electricity output.
The warning was contained in a statement signed by Dominic Igwebike, acting General Secretary of the NUEE.
Unresolved issues include the reluctance of most Generation Companies (GenCos), led by Egbin Power Plc, which reportedly violated all existing Labour regulations since taking over in November 2013, as well as the non-payment of 16 months arrears stemming from severance, among others.
“In order to achieve impeccable improvements and rejuvenate the power sector, it is expedient that the federal government puts round pegs in round holes and not appointees whose qualifications are political considerations,” the NUEE statement said.
NUEE also expressed dissatisfaction with the sector's lack of engagement.
According to the union, it was unfortunate that the minister had not deemed it necessary since his appointment to reach out to critical stakeholders in the power sector in order to foster effective collaboration, optimise productivity, and increase power output, as well as the impeccable industrial relations environment required to achieve these goals.
They added that, “Rather, he has embarked on a media frenzy to misinform Nigerians and openly threaten workers in the sector. It is on record that the power sector has not experienced any system collapse in over 400 days due to the industrious and hard-working members that make up the workforce.
“The Minister should be guided to the effect that the power sector did not experience any system collapse during the two days warning strike declared across the nation by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), which we are affiliated to.
“Should the Minister fail to address these issues within two weeks, he should preoccupy himself with recruiting NSA officials to run the Sector,” the statement added.