Following the Industrial Dispute declared by the two in-house unions at the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), the national electric power grid has been shut down by Union functionaries – even as unfettered effort was being made to resolve the issues upon which the action was called.
The Ministries of Power and Labour & Employment are currently meeting with the Union Officials to resolve the issues.
Electricity workers under the aegis of the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) and the Senior Staff Association Electricity and Allied Companies (SSAEAC) had on Tuesday, August 16, grounded the operations of TCN nationwide with the picketing of its office across the country for reneging on the agreement it had reached with the unions some years ago.
The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has urged electricity workers to suspend their proposed indefinite strike action.
According to General Manager, Public Affairs, TCN, Ndidi Mbah, the incident occurred at 15:01Hrs, today after several 330kV transmission lines and 33kV feeder-lines across the power system network had been switched off by the Union members, resulting in generation-load imbalance and multiple voltage escalations at critical stations and substations. Regrettably, this is coming weeks after we had emerged from hectic grid management regime, precipitated by paucity of generation, which we grappled with for a couple of months.
It would be recalled, in tandem with the initiative of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission on Partial Activation of Contracts – coupled with the stream of interventions by the Ministry of Power and other stakeholders in the Value Chain – grid generation (at Peak) had reached 4,830.69MW as at yesterday, the 16th of August, 2022.
Inspite of this setback, we are set to restore the grid as quickly as possible.
The Ministries of Power and Labour & Employment are currently meeting with the Union Officials in order to resolve the issues.
The Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry appreciates the understanding of our customers – within and outside the country. Enduring mechanisms are being instituted to avert a situation of this kind, going forward.
