The Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige has intervened in the nationwide electricity strike which commenced today.

The electricity workers under the joint umbrella of the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) and Senior Staff Association of Electricity and Allied Companies (SSAEC) agreed to suspend the industrial action, following this intervention.

Ngige had summoned an emergency conciliation meeting between the Federal Government and the workers on Wednesday to resolve the issues that precipitated the industrial action.

These issues are the alleged contravention of their Conditions of Service and Career Progression, stigmatisation of electricity staff by the Office of the Head of Service of the Federation and refusal of the market operators to fund the payment of entitlements of ex-PHCN staff as agreed in the December 2019 agreement.

After the meeting, the Secretary General of NUEE, Comrade Joe Ajaero, said they had been asked to suspend the strike action.

Ajaero said they would take a pause on the industrial action and wait for two weeks as agreed in the meeting for the government to address their grievances. He also stated his expectations of the government to settle the dispute which has been delayed for a long while.

Joe Ajaero assured us that electricity would be restored across the country tonight.

The workers shut down all Transmission Companies of Nigeria (TCN) offices earlier today.

Also, the President of SSAEC, Comrade Chika Ben, assured the nation that the matter would be properly addressed before it escalates, adding that there would be no further blackout in any part of the country.

After different deliberations on the issues in dispute, Ngige said they agreed to constitute a mutual committee to look into the grievances of the electricity workers and report back in two weeks.

According to him, the members of the committee include the Minister of State for Power, Jeddy Agba (Chairman), Permanent Secretary, Office of the Secretary to Government of the Federation, Permanent Secretary, General Services, Office of the Head of Service of the Federation, Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, representative of BPE and two representatives from NUEE and SSAEC.

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