Tariff Increase: Organized Labour’s Planned Protests Ill-Motivated – Kaduna Electric

Kaduna Electric-Garba HarunaAhead of the nationwide protests by the organized labour on Monday, the Managing Director/CEO, Kaduna Electric, Engineer Garba Haruna, has appealed to the Nigerian Labour Congress and Trade Union congress to jettison their threat to picket electricity distribution companies as the nation cannot afford any disruption to power supply now.

A press statement issued by the Head of Corporate Communication department of the Company, Abdulaziz Abdullahi yesterday, quoted the CEO as saying: “The current economic challenges facing the country makes the planned action of the labour movements ill-motivated and counterproductive”.

According to Engineer Garba, all stakeholders must join hands together to consolidate on the success achieved with the privatization of the power sector.

“For the first time in the history of Nigeria’s power sector, electricity generation has hit an all-time high of 5,075MW, demonstrating the evolution and progress in the capacity of the sector to meet the country’s power needs, a major requirement in the drive to grow the nation’s economy and improve quality of life”, he said.

Garba noted that the new tariff regime recently approved by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission is not only about tariff increase.

“It is a comprehensive master plan aimed at having a cost reflective tariff for the Nigerian electricity supply industry. The new tariff will enable the actors in the electricity value chain (generation, transmission and distribution companies) to cover the cost of their operations and attract further investment in the power sector”, he stated.

The Kaduna Electric boss added that it should also guarantee sustainable growth in the power sector and ensure stable and qualitative power supply across the country.

Engr. Garba reiterated Kaduna Electric’s resolve to provide steady and qualitative power supply in its operational territory.