Labour

TUC berates FG over failure to fix Nigeria’s electricity challenge

The Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) has berated the Federal Government over its inability to fix the country’s electricity generation problems and the huge economic hardship it is causing Nigerians.

TUC said this in an address by its immediate past president, Comrade Quadri Olaleye, at the just concluded 12th Triennial National Delegates Conference held in Abuja.

Olaleye said, “It is amusing but at the same time painful that Nigerians are meant to pay for services not provided. The DISCOS and GENCOS increase electricity tariff exploiting the people and killing businesses and our government does not care. The ugly development increases the overhead cost and reduces their profit margins making it impossible for workers to negotiate for wage increase.

“It is also responsible for salary stagnation, redundancy, increased unemployment, unpaid salaries and reducing the living standards of Nigerians. It is practically impossible for a country that buys diesel at almost N1,000 per litre to break even.

“The ruling party declared that they can fix power within six months. This administration has spent seven year and still cannot generate 4,000 MW of electricity. The grid collapses every three weeks. According to the Ministry of Military Resources and Energy, South Africa’s total domestic electricity generation capacity is 58.095 megawatts (MW) for a population of 60 million while Econometric.com has it that Egypt has a total installed capacity of 57 gigawatts (GW) for a projected population of I05.20 million. We have competent people to tackle our challenges but they are being sidelined because they are not members of the ruling party.

“To revive the manufacturing sector, Nigeria needs an urgent power revitalisation plan. The Federal Government must not continue to bailout the privatised sector with the taxpayers’ money. The state of the sector is responsible for the high production cost; it is expensive to run generators all day, week, month and year and still pay salaries. With these additional costs, there is no way Nigerian goods can compete favourably. We call on the government to renegotiate the privatisation process and hand it over to a reputable global player.”

On the state of the country’s economy, Olaleye said, “This is not the best of times for Nigerians and businesses. The quality of lives of most Nigerians have dropped even as companies have continued to close shops to neighbouring countries because of poor economic policies and reliance on neo-liberal policies.

“As it stands, the Naira is being exchanged for N610 and selling for N580. It is preposterous that at a time that the manufacturing companies cannot access foreign exchange to purchase raw materials, politicians were throwing dollars at one another during party conventions.

“This unpleasant development, according to a Consumer Price Index report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), is responsible for the rise in inflation to 16.82 per cent in April 2022 and the associated increase in energy, food prices, transportation, goods and services. The report also has it that on a monthly basis, the headline index increased by 1.76 per cent in April 2022, compared to the 1.74 per cent increase recorded in the previous month. It has never been this bad.”

Meanwhile, the union has also elected Comrade Festus Osifo as its new National President to replace Comrade Quadri Olaleye. Comrade Olaleye served for one term from 2019 to 2022.

The election was held on Tuesday, July 19, 2022 at the International Conference Centre, Abuja during the 12th Triennial National Delegate Conference of Congress.

Comrade Festus Osifo is the National President of Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), an affiliate of the TUC.

According to TUC’s constitution, Comrade Osifo and his 14-member National Administrative Council (NAC) of the Congress would pilot the affairs of the labour centre for the next three years.

Comrade Osifo is a Mechanical Engineer and has over 16 years career in the oil and Gas industry both in Schlumberger Nigeria Ltd and TotalEnergies Exploration and Production Nigeria Ltd. He had served amongst others, as PENGASSAN Producers Forum Chairman between 2016 and 2018.

The Chairman of the National Delegates Conference Committee who was also the Returning Officer, Comrade Shehu Mohammed, said, a total of 728 delegates participated in the election with Osifo pulling 688 votes to defeat his opponent, Comrade Oyinkan Olasanoye, who had 18 votes. Twenty two votes were declared invalid.

Comrade Osifo is a first class graduate of the University of Portsmouth and also an alumnus of the Petroleum Training Institute (PTI). He holds a Master degree in Petroleum Engineering from Herriot Watt University, Edinburgh, United Kingdom.

Comrade Osifo is a member of the Nigeria Society of Engineers (NSE), Council of Registered Engineers of Nigeria (COREN) and Society for Petroleum Engineers (SPE).

In his acceptance speech, he pledged to fight for the welfare of the masses as well as the protection of the interest of every Nigerian worker. He commended the past leaders of the Congress for laying a solid foundation on which the body thrives today. He promised to sustain the vision and even do more. Comrade Osifo promised to carry everyone along in his quest for a greater TUC while also pledging to initiate a platform to reconcile all aggrieved comrades.

“I am grateful for the trust you have bestowed on me and I will not take it for granted,” he further pledged.

Other members of the NAC include: President of Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria, Comrade Tommy Etim Okon (Ist President); President of Food, Beverage and Tobacco Senior Staff Association (FOBTO), Comrade Jimoh Oyibo (3rd President); President of Road Transport Employers Association (RTEAN), Alhaji (Dr) Musa Mohammed (Maitakobi 1) as Treasurer; Ex-Officio of Construction and Civil

Senior Staff Association (CCESSA), Comrade Isaac Egbugara (Fin Sec.); President of Hotel and Personnel Senior Staff Association, Comrade Iyeh Williams (Trustee 2); President of Academic Staff Union of Secondary Schools, Comrade Samuel Omaji (Trustee 3); President Senior Staff Association of Electricity and Allied Companies (SSAEAC), Comrade Benedict Chika (Auditor I); President of National Union of Allied Health Professional, Comrade Ogbonna Obinna (Auditor 2); President of Textile Union, Comrade Alamotu Babatunde (PRO) and TUC Women Commission, Comrade Afusatu Shuaib (Chairperson).

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The PDP spokesman recalled how the opposition party had on various occasions alerted that the APC government had ceded sovereignty over a large portion of our country to terrorists, “many of whom were imported into our country by the APC.”

He further stated: “From the video, in a brazen manner, terrorists as non-state actors boldly showed their faces, boasting, admitting and confirming their participation in the Kuje Prison break, some of whom were former prison inmates who were either jailed or awaiting trial for their previous terrorism act against our country.

“Nigerians can equally recall the confession by the Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai that the APC government knows the plans and whereabouts of the terrorists but failed to act.

According to Ologunagba, about 18,000 Nigerians have been killed by terrorists between 2020 and 2022 “as the criminals continue to be emboldened by the failures and obvious complicity of the APC and to which the PDP had always drawn attention.”

“This is not politics; this is about humanity and leadership, which leadership sadly and unfortunately is missing in our country at this time,” he said.

The PDP added that it is appalled by “the lame response by the apparently helpless, clueless and deflated Buhari Presidency, wherein it told an agonizing nation that President Buhari “has done all and even more than what was expected of him as Commander in Chief by way of morale, material and equipment support to the military…”

“This is a direct admission of incapacity and failure by the Buhari Presidency and the APC. At such a time, in other climes, the President directly leads the charge and takes drastic measures to rescue and protect his citizens.

“In time of adversity, the President transmutes into Consoler-in-Chief to give hope and succour to the citizens. Painfully, Nigeria does not have a President who cares and can stand as Consoler-in-Chief to the citizens.

“It has now become very imperative for Nigerians to take note and realize that the only solution to this unfortunate situation is to hold the APC government accountable. We must come together as a people, irrespective of our political, ethnic and religious affiliations to resist the fascist-leaning tendencies of the APC administration.

Ologunagba called for an urgent meeting of the National Council of State to advise on the way to go over the nation’s worsening insecurity.

“Our nation must not fall. The resilient Nigerian spirit and ‘can-do- attitude’ must be rekindled by all to prevail on the President to immediately and without further delay, accede to the demand by the PDP and other well-meaning Nigerians to convene a special session of the National Council of State to find a lasting solution since the President has, in his own admission, come to his wit’s end,” the PDP spokesman declared.

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