NLC chairman speaking at the YEDC office
Members of the organized labour in Borno State have picketed the Maiduguri headquarters of the Yola Electricity Distribution Company (YEDC) to protest the recent hike in electricity tariff.
The office located near Monday Market along Gwange Road was picketed by the protesters holding placards with inscriptions like “We have suffered enough. We say No to electricity tariff hike” and “We need an immediate reversal of electricity tariff to N65/kWh.
Addressing the protesters, the Borno State branch Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Yusuf Inuwa said the development was in compliance with the directive of the Central Working Committee (CWC) of the union.
“The CWC has directed that all offices of the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission and DISCOs should be picketed and YEDC is one of the electricity DISCOs.
“This action is a warning before the next line of action,” Inuwa said.
Also speaking, the Borno Secretary of Trade Union Congress (TUC), Comrade Baba Mohammed, lauded the commitment of members to the call to fight against injustice.
“We have shut down the place and will stay for the whole day until we receive further instructions from our national secretariat.
“We are urging the federal government to revisit this policy of increasing tariff from N60/kWh to N206.8/kWh.
“We need to revert to the previous prize that is affordable to Nigerians,” Mohammed said.
Meanwhile, policemen have been drafted to the YEDC office to ensure adequate security during the picketing exercise.
