Electricity workers begin protest in Abuja

Electricity workers begin protest in Abuja

Members of the electricity workers union are currently protesting in Abuja, the nation’s capital.

The workers in protest blocked main entrance gate and locked out some staff to the Ministry of Power. This is even in the presence of armed police officers.

The electricity workers are protesting over the non-payment of severance package for members who were affected by the unbundling of Power Holding Company of Nigeria PHCN into eleven electricity distribution companies (DisCos), six generating companies (GenCos), and a transmission company (TCN).

It will be recalled that the Senate President Ahmad Lawan on Monday called on the Executive to, as a matter of urgency, declare a state of emergency in the power sector to overcome the legion of problems stalling steady power supply in Nigeria.

According to the Senate President, the privatisation of the power sector in 2005 and 2013 was a grand scheme conceived with the intention to defraud Nigeria.

Lawan while faulting the power sector privatization process said it hasn’t yielded significant improvements and the National Assembly is prepared to amend the Power Sector Reform Act of 2005.