National grid suffers third collapse, worsens 20hrs power target

• Break up the monopoly to end electricity crisis, Osaikhuiwu urges FG
• Tariff hike: NUEE adamant on withdrawal, says members’ safety at risk
• New tariff may push labour’s minimum wage demand to N665,000 
  
Nigeria’s power grid, operated from Osogbo in Osun State, collapsed in the early hours of yesterday, throwing the country into nationwide darkness amid ongoing furore over the hike in electricity tariff for premium consumers.
   
The collapse, which left the entire country without public power supply, compounded the challenges facing the new 20 hours minimum power supply requirements for the amended Multi-Year Tariff Order (MYTO), which increased the electricity tariff for Band A customers from N68 per kilowatt hour to N225/kWh.
   

Nosa Osaikhuiwu, a U.S.-based service delivery manager with expertise in process improvements, change management and elimination of waste, has said solving the power crisis in Nigeria requires breaking up the monopoly enjoyed by the various iterations of the NEPA/PHCN organizations, that is the generating, distributing and transmission companies to ensure improved service delivery. According to him, the breakup should ensure the presence of multiple players within operating regions as this will introduce competition to the market place and incentivize investments to boost service delivery.

“In all seriousness how can we privatize NEPA/PHCN and create exactly succeeding entities that looks, act, operate and are configured like NEPA/PHCN? If we are serious about improving electricity access, then the power architecture must be reconfigured to allow for true competition in the market place, which exactly is what will drive service delivery and competitive pricing.

“The recent changes to our existing laws that allow each state to invest, develop and transmit their own electricity now will in the long run help to improve power service delivery in Nigeria if they are in direct competition with existing players in the industry.

“The long-term solutions at improving overall electricity service delivery and transforming the industry includes the following: Enabling through legislation an end to the monopoly enjoyed by the various power entities especially the GenCo’s and Disco’s by providing for multiple providers in each operating zone; ⁠Passing felony legislation and the mandatory 20 years jail term for tampering with electricity infrastructures; Imposing stiff penalties including serious jail time, immediate firing and loss of pension’s on employees of power utilities who collude with customers to bypass meters and temper with electricity infrastructures and mandating immediate deployment of prepaid meters across the nation while prohibiting estimated billings.
   

MEANWHILE, the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) has said it is ‘still consulting’ with stakeholders on whether to embark on a strike over the recently approved electricity tariff hike.
   
The acting general secretary of NUEE, Dominic Igwebike, had earlier threatened that its members would begin a nationwide strike. However, Igwebike while speaking with Channels Television, said the decision to embark on a nationwide protest was yet to be firmed up.
   
“The decision to embark on strike was taken because our members will be attacked if they attempt to go out to cut the light. Those customers they put on Band A don’t have light, so they are saying they won’t pay. Our lives will be at risk because most of those in the category are still on estimated bills. But we are still consulting on the next step to take,” he said.
   
In an earlier statement, NUEE wrote to the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, stating that its members would take decisive action if nothing was done about the withdrawal of the tariff.
   
On April 3, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) raised the electricity tariff for Band A customers. According to NUEE, it is not feasible to have 20 hours of electricity supply, hence, the government should reverse the tariff increase. It added that the increased tariff would push the price of goods upwards and affect the poor.
   
“We just want the citizens to know that this thing is not possible, it is not feasible, you cannot give what you don’t have. When we don’t have the energy to give to the people, and you ask our people to go out and collect such money, you know it is dangerous. We often don’t disclose what to do to the public because our sector is critical to the nation,” he stated.
      

THERE are chances that the new electricity tariff hike may push organised labour’s minimum wage demand to N665,000. This is N50,000 above the wage figure earlier submitted to the office of the National Salaries Incomes and Wages Commission (NSIWC) through the national minimum wage tripartite committee secretariat. 
   
A document sighted by The Guardian showed that the joint demand of N615,000 agreed on by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) was forwarded to the secretariat of the NSIWC on March 28, 2024.
   
However, The Guardian gathered that the proposed demand may no longer be feasible as the new electricity tariff hike by the Federal Government may push labour to increase its demand. The document showed that labour’s demands, based on realities on certain baskets, may likely change due to the hike in the new electricity tariff.
 
When The Guardian reached out to a top official in the labour centre, who craved anonymity, the official confirmed that their demand may not work again.  
   
The source said: “The demand may not work again. The reality is very clear. Our demand is based on realities in a certain basket and there are elements in that basket, and the moment our elements in that basket change our demand will change. 
   
“Federal government increased electricity tariff by over 300 per cent. So that portion of the basket will have to increase by the same margin so that salaries can also take care of that. On that portion, our demand will be increased by N50,000.”