Electricity Subsidy Fraudulent, Says Labour

By Onyebuchi Ezigbo

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has described the position of the federal government that it is voting huge sums of money to subsidise electricity in the country as indefensible.

It said the idea of subsidising private sector concerns is economically wrong.

Against the background of concerns expressed by Nigerians over the huge amount spent by the federal government as subsidy until recently, NLC said that there is no justification for such a waste.

Speaking in an interview with journalists in Abuja, the Deputy President of the NLC, Joe Ajero, said that the labour movement never accepted that electricity tariff was being subsidized, adding that it has been their position in all discussions with government.

He said: “Take the electricity distribution companies for example. When it was operated by government-owned National Electricity Power Authority (NEPA), the tariff was down there. No one was giving NEPA any subsidy, it was running the lowest tariff. Now you sold the companies to some people and they increased tariff five times and still tell Nigerians that you are subsidizing. There must be something wrong there.”

Ajero said that organised labour has always opposed the issue of subsidy because it believed that it is a mere contraption with no economic basis.

“We told the government that there is no subsidy. How do you subsidise a commodity that is produced by the private sector? Do you subsidise Gari, plantain and banana? Unless they are being blackmailed by the operators,” he said.

The issue of frequent increase in electricity tariff in the country has given rise to threat of industrial unrest with organised labour, vowing to declare a nationwide strike if the federal government approves any new hike in tariff.

The issue has resulted in series of negotiations between government and the leadership of the organised labour.