The Nigeria Transmission Company has announced the closure of the National Grid by the Labour Union, which led to a blackout across the country. The closure occurred today, 3 June 2024, at 2.19am in the morning.
It would be recalled that following the call for a nationwide industrial action by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC), the Nigeria Union of Electricity Workers (NUEE) had released a statement over the weekend, reaffirming their support for the strike and mandating their members to down tools and services by 12midnight on June 2, 2024.
That compliance, obviously has resulted in the nationwide blackout.
Reacting to the situation, a statement by the TCN spokesperson, Ndidi Mbah disclosed that:
“At about 1:15am this morning, June 3, the Benin Transmission Operator under the Independent System Operations unit of TCN reported that all operators were driven away from the control room and that staff that resisted were beaten while some were wounded in the course of forcing them out of the control room and without any form of control or supervision, the Benin Area Control Center was brought to zero.
“Other transmission substations that were shut down by the Labour Union include the Ganmo, Benin, Ayede, Olorunsogo, Akangba and Osogbo Transmission Substations. Some transmission lines were equally opened due to the ongoing activities of the labour union.
“On the power generating side, power generating units from different generating stations were forced to shut down some units of their generating plants, the Jebba Generating Station was forced to shut down one of its generating units while three others in the same substation subsequently shut down on very high frequency. The sudden forced load cuts led to high frequency and system instability, which eventually shut down the national grid at 2:19am.
“At about 3.23am, however, TCN commenced grid recovery, using the Shiroro Substation to attempt to feed the transmission lines supplying bulk electricity to the Katampe Transmission Substation. The situation is such that the labour Union is still obstructing grid recovery nationwide”.
According to Ms Mbah, the TCN will continue to make efforts to recover and stabilize the grid to enable the restoration of normal bulk transmission of electricity to distribution load centers nationwide.
Calls from various quarters have come for the Unionists to cancel the strike as it shall further exacerbate the harsh living conditions of the Nigerian Populace.
The Labour unions are however adamant, insisting that government approach their demands and the negotiation table with sincerity. Their demands comprise of:
1. N494,000 minimum wage
2. Return of electricity tariffs to N65/kwp rather than the current N206/kwp
3. Cancellation of separation of electricity consumers into different tariff bands
