TOP government functionaries had a tough time selling the new electricity tariffs regime to Labour leaders yesterday at a town-hall meeting in Abuja where President of the Trade Union Congress, Peter Esele, shredded the proposal.

Curiously though, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) was conspicuously absent from the forum, which had Minister of Power, Prof. Barth Nnaji, his Labour and Productivity counterpart, Emeka Wogu, Minister of State for Power, Darius Ishaku and Chairman, Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Dr. Sam Amadi, leading government’s charge.

Esele listed several fault lines in the proposed tariffs regime, concluding that the Federal Government had again put the cart before the horse in conceiving and implementing the policy.

For instance, the TUC president queried the rush to implement the new tariffs against the backdrop of erratic power supply nationwide.

He also faulted the argument that the new tariffs would make the power sector attractive to prospective investors, stressing that the same polemics had been deployed in not too distant past to vote billions of dollars to the power sector, which funds went down the drain.

Esele submitted that Nigerians would not pay for the illegality that the planned increment represented.

In his presentation, Amadi had assured that in the next 12 to 18 months, the power distribution companies would supply meters to most electricity consumers in the country.

Besides, the NERC chief explained that what would take off on June 1 was an adjustment in the tariff, which would make the poor pay less.

The poor in the electricity context, according to Amadi, is the least consumers of power.

He stressed that the rich and poor have nothing to do with their geographical location but the kilowatts of electricity they consume, which graduates them from one class to the other.

Although Nnaji admitted that the Federal Government has a record of trust deficit, he assured Nigerians that the current attempt to reform the power sector would be different.

He explained that upon the privatisation of the power sector in October this year, the power distribution companies would quicken metering in order to reduce losses of revenue.

But these arguments failed to persuade Esele, who stated: “One of the issues also has to do with the political leadership; sometimes they put the cart before the horse. NERC says it wants to make meters available for everybody so that we start paying for what we consume in 18 months. My question is: If right now I am not paying for what I consume, will I continue to pay illegal bills for 18 months before the meters are available?

“NERC says the new tariff will be pro-poor. I told the chairman that I would like to see how the tariff would be pro-poor. The Central Working Committee (CWC) of the TUC will be having a roundtable that will look at the nitty-gritty of the new tariff with NERC. The minister of power makes references to different various reforms. I will also like to raise some questions.

“Why would I not want regular power supply for 24 hours? I know Nigerians will give anything to ensure power supply for 24 hours. But why are Nigerians worried about the new tariffs? There is parable that says that when a snake bites a child, even a long lizard will scare him.

“The minister spoke about power reform, we have spent billions of dollars over the years on the power sector and the plan was to make it attractive to investors. If after spending billions of dollars and power sector is still not attractive, how do you want Nigerians to trust you on this new tariff regime?”

The TUC president noted that the Federal Government had cleverly desisted from stating its power supply target in order not to be held accountable for failure.

His words: “In the past, we used to hear 3,000mw, 4,000mw by December, but now, we no longer hear that and we have not been told why that was not achieved.”

Ishaku disclosed that the Federal Government had directed the National Power Training Institute of Nigeria (NAPTIN) to re-train disengaged electricity workers to prepare them for the eventual hand-over of the successor companies to Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) in October.

He stressed that those found with the right skills would be engaged by the new owners of the public power facilities.

In response to a question on the current status of PHCN, the minister stated: “PHCN has ceased to exist. It has been unbundled to make 18 successor companies while its workers have been redeployed to the successor companies.”

On the fate of the nation’s electricity workers when the privatisation process is concluded, Ishaku noted: “The current PHCN workers will be disengaged. Let me add here that we have effected a 50 per cent increment in the salary of our electricity workers and have since started paying.

“The idea is for their salaries and emoluments to be scaled up to give those of them who are highly skilled to have upper hands when the new owners come. We do not want our workers to be under-valued.

“We are hoping that the new owners would engage them on a higher skills basis. We are training them at the moment to make them highly relevant in the new scheme of things.”

Nnaji also explained why Nigeria currently supplies electricity to Niger Republic when its own citizens largely live in darkness.

His words: “We have two of our electricity dams that share boundaries with Niger Republic. We supply some electricity to that country as part of the agreement for us to use that dam. If we don’t supply them electricity, they may turn off the dams from their own end and that can be disastrous for us.”

http://businessnews.com.ng/2012/05/25/labour-shreds-nnajis-electricity-tariff-hike-plan/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=labour-shreds-nnajis-electricity-tariff-hike-plan

Increase power supply before tariff, who asked 4 subsidy in the 1st place

I wish all that has been said will be implemented. We are tired of hearing 5000kw,10000kw, we want a realistic measures.

They should have carried them all along and not when the new tariff regime will begin by June are we now hearing that they will oppose it. I hope they settle it because the new tariff is important for the new companies to function properly.

TUC tell 'em ooo 4 over 3wks we dont have light in our hood..our transformer is always blowing up every 3months lyk WTF?

Good points raised by d TUC. But what options do d common man have? Nothing

All this useless phcn workers have refused to come and repair the transformer in my area, cos now that they have shared the pre-paid meters, they knw theirs no more bribe for them... Silly people...

Peter Esele is a sellout, he has done it before he will do it again.

grafikii: Increase power supply before tariff, who asked 4 subsidy in the 1st place

God bless u my brother.

grafikii: Increase power supply before tariff, who asked 4 subsidy in the 1st place

God bless u brother...

will anytin in nija eva b done witin two or three months Diezani said we should live wit d increment in fuel price for two yrz nd continue to suffer, nnaji said we should bgin payin d hi tarrif until d so calld investors comz...wen d bring bills of lit we didnt evn use, I tink we nid a forum on d media wer we can tell dis pepl to stop FOOLING us in nija. u prolong wat u are to do naw till wen u will leave office...give us lit den we can pay for ur so called investors to com if not u pepl investin on it urselves....am disapointd in most of our public office holders...mtcheew

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GEJ is at it again. Why making Nigerians pay for what they did not consume? Is 419 more than this? Nigerians please lets not accept this. GEJ is continually been misled. Or should it be the other way round. The other day he was accusing the governors for betraying him during the fuel subsidy issue. Here he is again now been led to the slaughter. 'First fool', they say,'no be fool. But second fool,man, na proper foolish'!

stagering statistics: last year (2011), between january and october, a total of 30million units of generators were imported into Nigeria. yes u heard me well, 30 million units
We cannot solve electricity problems until we solve gen importers. The solution is this simple

This is the new tariff plan for each districts and there are many other detailed documents so if anyone needs them please let me know.

chuks49: Peter Esele is a sellout, he has done it before he will do it again.

U know this guy well o.
Well am still watching him, maybe he wants to redeem his image after much bashing on twitter.

I dey watch!

What annoys me is the reckless attitude of the PHCN workers. Whenever u call them to work on the transformer covering ur area they don't give a damn. Infact they will insist u drop money for fuel b4 they can come to ur place. Honestly, this is corruption personified.

More Tariffs

What are they waiting for ? Electricity bill should be increased 100%; Infact, I wish they can make it 100 thousand per month, so I can simply disconnect PHCN from my house and reconnect it when the electricity is 247. What the Zap will I be paying huge bill for, I havent seen nepa light for ages

Joey82: stagering statistics: last year (2011), between january and october, a total of 30million units of generators were imported into Nigeria. yes u heard me well, 30 million units
We cannot solve electricity problems until we solve gen importers. The solution is this simple

my guy you know too much! They want to make electricity unavailable so they can sales in diesels and generator. Mikano is at it again! I guess it's fresh air, goodluck to y'all!!

If a Government fooled me once shamed on them,but if the Government fooled me twice then shame on me. I'as articulated with well sugar-coat lies during the {PMS}subsidizing bruhaha that they were going to chanell it to cater for the well being of the poeple not knowing chameleon ain't meant to be believed by it's color.i'd never trust anythings coming out of these people again never again

Initial gra gra!
When they collect their own share, they will enter house and allow us to suffer. What happened to subsidy protest? They said =N=65 or nothing. "It was federal govt decision to fix fuel price on =N=97 and not we TUC/NLC." Did you agree or not.

More Tariffs

!

!

I always tell people that the problem with our great country is the mindset and mentality of her citizens! We all agree that lack of stable power supply is a one of the major problems hindering the growth of the economy. Imagine how many SMEs have closed shop and many others battling with running cost tied to power supply. Before we start throwing temper tantrums, I would suggest a cursory look at the transaction documents for the privatization of PHCN. The tarrif quotes herein is still amongst the cheapest in the world and is based on a worst case scenario analysis which implies that once the human and capital infrastructure is on ground prices will eventually fall in line with market forces. Besides, we'll all want stable power supply yet we don't want to pay for it. Of course, the PHCN workers will frown at this because it will no longer be business as usual for them and it has been stated that prepaid meters will be installed so we only get to pay for what we use. I was in Nigeria recently and was surprised when I saw a saw a friend leaving his outdoor lights on in broad daylight yet he will complain when he is slammed with a huge bill. In the US, I pay on average twice of what is proposed in the new tarriff, bearing in mind that I live alone and spend not more than 6-7 hours at home daily. God bless Nigeria!

God wil inconvenience those pple inconvenience poor pple in nigeria

Funkymallam:

U know this guy well o.
Well am still watching him, maybe he wants to redeem his image after much bashing on twitter.

I dey watch!

What does this peter guy take Nigerians for? Trying to sell us again or what?

Isnt this the guy who collected bribe from Jonathan to stop the January riots?!!

Fhuck him!! He is a persona non grata!! Who gave him the right to reject or apporve anything!!

When Jonathan starts cutting government agencies and parastatals, they should remember TUC is also doing the same work as NUC.. Lemme see how he will see bribe to collect!

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Please send your resume to ademola@ymail.com

[b]THESE PEOPLE HAVE COME AGAIN , " THE POOR WILL PAY LESS" HOW CAN THEY TELL WHO IS THE POOR AND RICH? ARE THEY GOING TO CONSIDER THE AREA THE PERSON IS LIVING OR COUNT THE NUMBER OF GADGETS ONE HAS TO TELL THE DIFFERENCE. SO SOMEONE WHO LIVES IN A DUPLEX IN A NICE AREA, WILL BE CONSIDERED RICH BECAUSE HE USES AIR CONDITION, THEN THE PERSON WHO LIVES IN A POOR AREA, AND YET HAS A HIGH VOLTAGE COMMERCIAL PRINTING MACHINE, WILL PAY LESS BECAUSE HE IS CONSIDERED POOR?

OK , SO THEY BELIEVE ITS THE POOR PEOPLE THAT WILL PROTEST ABI? WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THEY START TO CHARGE THOSE WHO HAVE FACTORIES AND BAKERIES MORE ? WONT THEY INCREASE THE PRICE OF THEIR PRODUCTS TO AFFECT REFLECT THE INCREASE IN TARIFFS ? THEN THE POOR WILL END UP PAYING ALOT TO BUY THESE PRODUCTS. IT WILL AFFECT EVERYBODY, SO THEY SHOULD FORGET THIS RICH AND POOR RUBBISH THEY ARE TALKING ABOUT. LET EVERYONE PAY FOR WHAT THEY USE.

YOU KNOW HOW NIGERIANS ARE, THEY WILL GO AND GIVE BRIBE TO PHCN STAFF TO CLASSIFY THEM UNDER THE POOR WHILE THEY ARE RUNNING FACTORIES. AND THEN THOSE WHO ARE POOR WILL BE CHARGED AS RICH .

WE HAVE NOT SEEN AN IMPROVEMENT IN POWER AND THEY WANT US TO START PAYING MORE, THOSE INVOLVED IN THE SUBSIDY SCAM WE HAVE NOT HEARD ANYTHING. BESIDES THIS LOAN THE FEDERAL GOVT IS PLANNING TO GO FOR, WHAT WILL IT BE USED FOR ? CANT THEY INVEST THE MONEY INTO POWER AND LET NIGERIAN ENJOY STEADY ELECTRICITY FOR AT LEAST ONE YEAR BEFORE THEY INCREASE THE TARIFF [/b]