Blackout Looms As Electricity Union Vows Showdown Over Alleged Plan To Privatize TCN

The National Union of Electricity Employees has vowed to cripple the nation’s economy with a total strike should the Federal Government go ahead to privatize the Transmission Company of Nigeria.

The union said it had discovered some surreptitious moves by the Federal Government to privatise TCN when the privatisation of distribution companies had not brought out any positive change.

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TCN, saddled with the responsibility of bulk transmission of power supply to various distribution companies and stations in the country maybe sold out to the private sector in coming mouths.

The union, during the fifth Triennial Delegate Conference of the National Union of Electricity Employees, Lagos Genco & Transco Administrative Council, held at the National Control Centre Osogbo, Osun State on Saturday deliberated on the alleged moves by the FG to privatize TCN.

They urged members to prepare for massive industrial action which will be without prior notice.

Speaking at the conference, the Assistant General Secretary NUEE Lagos G&T Admin and Special Duties, Anthony Agyake, warned Federal Government to drop the plans to privatise the sector else there would be a total crippling of the nation’s economy as a result of the strike action that would greet such move.

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Agyake said, “Having heard series of rumors that government is planning to privatize TCN, we have issued a joint letter to the Presidency, revealing the implications of selling the only negotiating power the government has and equally advised that such evil plan be discarded.

“The union would not be comfortable seeing another destruction coming to power sector and keep quiet, Nigerians are still nursing the pains that emanated from the privatization of both generation and distribution companies, still the government has not learnt its lesson.”

He lamented that Nigerians have not seen the positive impact of the ones privatized about nine years ago and if government still makes a mistake of handling TCN into the hands of private individual, the whole country will be in trouble because that has a security implication.

He said nobody seems to have done an analysis of the security risk of government selling TCN, adding that it is unfortunate that the scholars and researchers, who would have helped government have been on strike for months.

Agyake read one of the paragraphs of the letter addressed to FG on the lingering crisis, saying, “the Presidency should accept that letter as notice. Any day, any time we wake up and hear that TCN is privatized, government should not expect any other notice from anywhere because we will embark on industrial action. No 21 days notice. No two days notice. We will surely embark on industrial action.”

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Similarly, the Vice President (West) of NUEE, Sadiq Adewale, encouraged the executives of the union ranging from states and chapters to rise up to their responsibilities.

He said the leadership of the union had mandated members to get ready for actions against management maltreatment in power sector, cutting across the Generation, Transmission and Distribution Companies, indicating that there have been series of negotiations and agreements on workers benefits that Government are handling with levity.

The Vice President (West) of NUEE stated that the union was fully ready to revisit some these issues.

According to him, “The union embarked on and suspended a few hours industrial action that threw the country into darkness just few months ago and up till now, some of the workers demands that led to the industrial disharmony have not been addressed.”

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