BENIN CITY – The Organized Labour in Edo State yesterday picketed the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) Head Office in Benin City over the increase in electricity tariffs and failure to obey court’s order.
The Organized Labour in Edo State led by the State Chairman, Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Emmanuel Ademokun told The NIGERIAN OBSERVER that the protest was carried out in line with a national directive to picket the electricity generating bodies (Discos) with a view to making them obey the 2013 Lagos Federal High Court order.
Also, the protest, he said, was to sound a warning to the electricity distribution companies on the need to obey courts directives/the need to obey the 18 months deadline meant to allow all consumers have pre-paid metres which they had already been made to pay for, aside paving room for stakeholders to meet and discuss the new tariffs.
He nonetheless sued BEDC to return to the collection of the old tariffs.
The state Chairman, National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Comrade Odion Olaye stated that the NLC and its affiliate unions were at the BEDC office to picket it over failed promises and non availability of free meters and issues relating to poor power supply.
He posited that there was obviously no need for a tariff increase since the company could not sell what it did not have.
Speaking on the position of BEDC, its Public Affairs Manager, Mr. Tayo Adekunle mentioned that in-line with the Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors (ANED), the BEDC considered the protest unnecessary, illegal and unwarranted because of it disrupt work.
“Some of the issues raised have been over flogged since such had been looked at in the recent past”, he said.
However, he mentioned that some people had already made investments which had to do with the upgrade of facilities in order to boost service delivery across the BEDC coverage states of Edo, Deltas, Ondo and Ekiti.
The BEDC Public Affairs Manager also noted that there has been investments in metering with the recent investment of over N2.7 billion naira that translates to the availably of meters very soon in the BEDC coverage states.
On a note at pacifying the angry unionists and representatives of market women, the BEDC spokesperson said though the impact of BEDC was considered slow by societal standards, the company was on the right course, gradual, but steady in its delivery, paving way for people to see the gains of privatization as
PROTEST: Former Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) Chairman, Edo State, Comrade Kaduna Eboigbodin, Comrade Emmanuel Ademokun, Edo NLC Chairman, a cross section of labour leaders in Edo State during the picketing of BEDC over the increase of electricity tarriff in Benin City yesterday. Photo: TESSY EDIJALA.
