The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) have given the Federal Government until May 31, 2024, to reverse the recent increase in electricity tariffs.

This decision was made at a joint National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the unions.

"The NEC strongly condemns the unilateral hike in electricity tariffs by the authorities, which disregards the economic hardships faced by the masses and violates legal provisions. This increase is unjust and burdensome. The NEC demands an immediate reversal of the tariff hike and the discriminatory categorization into Bands to alleviate the suffering of Nigerian workers and citizens. The National Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) and the federal government have until the end of May 2024 to comply with these demands," the statement from the meeting read.

It is noteworthy that the Organized Labour, which includes the NLC, TUC, and their affiliates, recently shut down NERC offices nationwide in protest against the tariff hike.

On April 3, during a press briefing in Abuja, NERC announced an increase in electricity tariffs for Band A customers, raising the rate from N68/kWh to N225/kWh, a 240 percent increase. This change effectively removes the subsidy for Band A customers, who make up about 15 percent of the 12.82 million power consumers in Nigeria.

The Federal Government stated that this hike, effective April 3, 2024, would save N1.5 trillion and that Band A customers would receive up to 20 hours of power supply daily.