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Tag: Blackout

  • Nationwide blackout looms as electricity workers commence strike today

    Nigerians may likely face another incident of nationwide blackout from today as electricity workers begin indefinite strike this morning.

    The industrial action is declared under the aegis of the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE).

    The union said the decision to down tools remained the only option since there was no dialogue with the Federal Government to resolve the lingering industrial crisis in the sector.

    Assistant Secretary General of NUEE Anthony Sule said the 21-day ultimatum given to Minister of Power Saleh Mamman expired at midnight on Tuesday.

    Sule, in a statement issued in Jos, the Plateau State capital, said the union had no option but to commence an indefinite strike.

    The statement read in part: “The ministry of power has failed to resolve some issues affecting members of the union since 2013 when the power sector was privatised especially issues that with the over 2,000 disengaged former PHCN workers and their pay off.”

    Some of the unresolved issues are illegal transfer of union properties to power investors and the alleged refusal by some distribution companies (DisCos) to remit deducted contributory pension of their members of staff to pension managers.

    He added that these issues were contained in a memo to the minister dated 7th November, 2019.

    Last night, General Secretary of NUEE Joe Ajaero said it was regrettable that the Ministry of Power failed to respond positively to the strike notice .

    Ajaero said the only response from the ministry was the letter sent to the union on the November 18. He said tin the letter, the minister assured the union that something would be done immediately he settled down.

    He said after waiting, the union again wrote the minister on the December 6 but up till yesterday, nothing had been done.

    “The strike letter was sent to the Ministry of Power and there was one letter they wrote, saying the minister is not in the country and that he is still studying the situation. They said the minister would look into everything, that is all,” he added.

    He said the union made sure that it sent its letter to all the relevant authorities in the power sector, including security agencies.

    He said the strike notice was published in one of the national dailies to ensure that no one would claim not to have seen it.

    “I can assure you, the strike will commence any time from now,” he vowed

    Ajaero said the union had given more than enough opportunity for dialogue on the issues but that nothing was forthcoming from the government.

    A power sector consultant who pleaded anonymity, said yesterday that the GenCos and DisCos were in dire need of N1.2 billion bailout to improve services.

    He also said one of the stakeholders, the Eko Distribution Company, had reached out to the union showing areas it had complied with its workers’ demands.

    Ajero said notwithstanding the efforts of the Eko DisCo, its services would still be affected since generation companies supply electricity to DisCos.

  • 10 states, Abuja to face telecoms network blackout — GSM operators

    10 states, Abuja to face telecoms network blackout — GSM operators

    Ten states and parts of Federal Capital Territory (FCT) may soon face telecommunications services blackout following tax disputes between Kogi Government and mobile network operators.

    Gbenga Adebayo, Chairman, Association of Licensed Telecommunication Operators (ALTON), made this known on Monday in Lagos while briefing journalists on issues affecting the nation’s telecommunications industry.

    The ALTON chief said Kogi State Government had allegedly shut down 150 telecoms base transceiver stations belonging to mobile telecoms operators as a result of disputes arising from taxes and levies.

    “The operators, comprising MTN, Globacom, Airtel, 9Mobile and Ntel, said that 150 base stations have been shut by the state’s revenue agency, warning that if nothing is done, the effect would lead to blackout in nine other neighbouring states to Kogi and parts of Abuja.

    “The states to be affected include, Nassarawa, Benue, Enugu, Anambra, Edo, Ondo, Ekiti, Kwara and Niger,” he said.

    Mr Adebayo said that the tax and levies being demanded by Kogi was ‘unusual’ as they had nothing to do with telecommunications services.

    “As a result of these actions by Kogi State Government, our members are unable to refuel power generators in these sites, a situation which has led to the outage of over 150 sites including hub sites across parts of Kogi State.

    “This will definitely affect nine states surrounding Kogi namely:- Nasarawa, Benue, Enugu, Anambra, Edo, Ondo, Ekiti, Kwara, Niger States. These are States sharing borders with Kogi State), and Abuja the FCT inclusive.

    “ALTON is worried that the action by Kogi will jeopardize communication services provided by us to security agencies such as the Nigeria Police Force, the Armed Forces in addition and to other emergency and social services in Kogi and other neighbouring states.

    “This will include affecting communication links to bank automated teller machines (ATM) across those states

    “The outage currently being experienced is already affecting the ability of our members to provide uninterrupted service delivery to commercial banks, Central Bank of Nigeria, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and other critical agencies of government in the aforementioned locations,” he said.

    Mr Adebayo said that telecommunications sites were Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) which should be safeguarded against any form of disruption.

    He said that the action followed an ex-parte court order obtained by the Kogi State Internal Revenue Service (KIRS) over unsubstantiated allegations that the telecom operators were in default of tax payments to the state government.

    According to him, ALTON members had settled all statutory levies and taxes due to the Kogi State Government and have taken the necessary steps to comply with local laws that govern business activities within Kogi State.

    He said that state governments were encouraged to explore other means of resolving tax-related disputes rather than sealing telecommunications sites.

    Mr Adebayo noted that operators had made several overtures to Kogi State Internal Revenue Service (KIRS) in the past months in a bid to resolve the disputed issues amicably but the agency had remained adamant.

    He added that rather than resort to the Tax Arbitration Tribunal for intervention as is expected of a government agency, KIRS resorted to subtle intimidation by getting the sites shut down in a bid to coerce the operators into accepting the “illegal” taxes and levies.