The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has begun mobilizing its staff to restore the national grid following the suspension of strike by electricity workers.
Electricity workers under the aegis of the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) suspended their industrial action on Wednesday evening.
They started their strike on Wednesday, shutting down the national grid to press home their demands.
The situation forced the Federal government to immediately summon an emergency meeting with the union leaders after their action plunged the whole country into darkness.
Sources said the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige succeeded in reaching a truce with the electricity workers for them to suspend the strike.
The electricity workers embarked on the strike in protest against the directive by the board of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) that all Principal Managers in acting capacity going to Acting General Manager must appear for a promotion interview.
The General Secretary of NUEE, Comrade Joe Ajaero, had in a statement explained that the directive was in contravention of the workers’ conditions of service and career progression paths, and alleged that it was unilaterally done without the relevant stakeholders.
Other issues raised include stigmatisation of staff from the office of the Head of Service of the Federation from working in other areas in the power sector, and non-payment of December 2019 entitlement of ex-PHCN staff.
Following deliberations at the meeting that lasted for three hours with Ngige, the electricity workers union agreed to suspend the strike for two weeks.
The workers expressed optimism that the government will listen to the voice of reasoning and prioritise their welfare and wellbeing.
Meanwhile, The General Manager, Public Affairs of TCN, Mrs. Ndidi Mbah said the company is set to restore the grid as quickly as possible.
Mbah said that several 330kV transmission lines and 33kV feeder-lines across the power system network were switched off by the electricity workers.
”This resulted in generation-load imbalance and multiple voltage escalations at critical stations and substations,” Mbah explained.
She further said the situation arose weeks after the company had come out of hectic grid management regime, occasioned by paucity of generation that lingered for some months.
”Coupled with the stream of interventions by the Ministry of Power and other stakeholders in the value chain, grid generation (at peak) had reached 4,830.69 Megawatts (MW) as at Tuesday,” she said.
The spokesperson confirmed that the Ministries of Power and Labour & Employment held a meeting with the electricity workers in order to resolve the issues.
Mbah assured that enduring mechanisms are being instituted to avert a similar situation, going forward.