Wait is over! National grid restored following strike suspension – NUEE
The wait is over for many Nigerians as the National Union of Electricity Employees announced that power on the national grid has been restored after the Nigerian Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress suspended their strike nationwide strike.
NUEE National President, Adebiyi Adeyeye, told the Punch Newspaper in an interview on Tuesday.
“The strike has been suspended, which means the grid has come back to normal. It is on already,” Adeyeye told our correspondent over the phone.
Labour Unions, on Monday, began a nationwide strike over the Federal Government’s refusal to raise the proposed minimum wage from N60,000 and reverse the Band A tariff to N65 per kilowatt-hour instead of N206/KWh.
Despite the announcement, total blackout persists across many parts of Nigeria several hours after organized labour unions announced the suspension of the recently embarked strike for one week.
The Transmission Company of Nigeria earlier announced the complete shutdown of Nigeria’s power grid by labour unions after the strike by the Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress began.
Announcing the shutdown of the national power grid in a statement issued on Monday morning by TCN spokesperson, Ndidi Mbah, the transmission firm said the workers deliberately carried out the shutdown to plunge the nation into darkness.
The statement was titled, “Grid shutdown: Union Deliberately shuts down the National Grid.”
It read in part, “The Transmission Company of Nigeria hereby informs the general public that the labour union has shut down the national grid, resulting in a blackout nationwide. The national grid shut down occurred at about 2.19am this morning, June 3, 2024.
“At about 1:15am this morning, the Benin Transmission Operator under the Independent System Operations unit of TCN reported that all operators were driven away from the control room and that staff that resisted were beaten while some were wounded in the course of forcing them out of the control room. Without any form of control or supervision, the Benin Area Control Centre was brought to zero.
“Other transmission substations that were shut down by the labour union include the Ganmo, Benin, Ayede, Olorunsogo, Akangba, and Osogbo transmission substations. Some transmission lines were equally opened due to the ongoing activities of the labour union.”
