Power transmission lines

Femi Adi/Kaduna

Ahead of the planned labour protest against hike in electricity tariff tomorrow , the National Union of Textile Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria, NUTGTWN, on Sunday, declared its support to the planned picketing by labour and civil society allies of all offices of the electricity distribution companies (DISCOS) nationwide.

The textile union which commended Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, leadership for the mass action for improved power supply instead of incessant non-service charges, also rejected the hike in electricity tariff and called on its members across the country to come out and join the NLC protest .

Issa Aremu, General Secretary, NUTGTWN and Chairman, Industrial Global Union, Sub Sahara Africa, in a statement made available to our correspondent today, said the unilateral and unlawful hike of electricity tariff is unacceptable.

The statement further reads: “The Textile Union, instead called for improvement in power supply. The point cannot be overstated. Between 30% and 35% of Textile and garment manufacturing costs are energy related expenses. Without electrification there can be no industrialization.

“The promise and expectation that President Muhammadu Buhari will revive textile industry generally is not possible without electricity. Also it is time for Buhari administration to critically review the power sector reform with a view to increasing public sector investment.

“To this extent, government should listen to the voice and suggestions of the power sector unions namely the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE).”