Customers of the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company Plc, or EEDC, were notified on Monday of a complete system failure that resulted in a blackout in the Southeast.
According to a statement released by EEDC’s Head of Corporate Communications, Emeka Eze, the event happened on Monday at around two in the morning.
However, the business gave the locals confidence that measures are being taken to guarantee a speedy return to normalcy.
The statement reads, “This resulted in the loss of supply to all our interface TCN stations. Consequently, we were unable to provide service to our customers in Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, and Imo States.
“However, the situation is gradually being resolved as we received supplies at Awada TCN station, Onitsha, at 7:30am.
“We are in constant communication with the relevant authorities awaiting full restoration of supply by the National Control Centre, NCC, Oshogbo”.
In the meantime, darkness descends across the entire country as the National Union of Electricity Employees, or NUEE, has threatened to stop providing services if the Nigerian government does not reverse the recently authorized increase in electricity tariffs.
In a statement provided by its acting general secretary, Dominic Igwebike, NUEE warned Adebayo Adelabu, the minister of power, that its members would take severe action if the tariff was not withdrawn.
Recall that the electricity cost for band consumers receiving 20 hours of power per day was increased by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission on April 3.
Due to the tariff increase, Band A users now pay N225 instead of N66KWh per kilowatt-hour.
Nonetheless, NUEE opposed the tariff increase together with the Trade Unions Congress, Nigerian Labour Congress, and others.
Workers in the power industry argued that the government should reverse the tariff rise since it is not practical to have a 20-hour supply of electricity.
“The recent hike in electricity tariff from N68/kWh to N225/kWh is absurd in a country where most of the masses are grappling with basic survival and an electricity access rate of about 55 per cent. The hike in the electricity tariff is grossly detrimental to Nigeria’s economic diversification, growth, and well-being.
“As a critical stakeholder in the power sector concerned with Nigerians getting constant and affordable power supply, we state categorically that the hike in the electricity tariff is not beneficial to Nigerians and should be withdrawn.
“We just want the citizens to know that this thing is not possible, it is not feasible, you cannot give what you don’t have.
“When we don’t have the energy to give to the people, and you ask our people to go out and collect such money, you know it is dangerous. We often don’t disclose what to do to the public because our sector is critical to the nation,” he stated.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Power, who spoke through his media aide, Bolaji Tunji, said the government was doing everything to improve supply in Nigeria, and everybody would be happy at the end of the day.
“We want to appeal to the labour union to understand what led to this. This is not about strike. It is about understanding so that we can all work together.
“It is not anybody’s joy that there are blackouts all the time. These steps are being taken to solve the problems in the power sector. I beg the labour union to understand that this will galvanise the economy and create jobs.
“I want to appeal to the union to bear with us. It is for the good of the nation,” he stated.
Meanwhile, since the tariff hike, the power supply has dropped nationwide, as electricity customers lament the lack of a sufficient power supply across the country.
