The Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) has rejected the proposed 65 percent increase in electricity tariffs by the Federal Government.
The union made the position in a communiqué issued at the end of its first quarter 2025 National Administrative Council (NAC) meeting held on Thursday in Abuja.
The Special Adviser on Energy to the President, Olu Verheijen, had on January 30 advocated an increase in Nigeria’s power prices by about two-thirds (65 percent) to reflect the actual cost of electricity supply in the country.
Verheijen, who spoke at a forum in Abuja, argued that higher electricity tariffs must be carefully balanced with subsidies to support less-affluent consumers across the country.
The TUC President, Festus Osifo, who addressed journalists in Abuja, said the NAC, on behalf of the congress, “strongly” condemned the proposed 65 percent increase in electricity tariffs.
He said: “It is alarming that the government is considering this hike when the previous increment has already inflicted severe hardship on citizens.
“This proposed increase is not only ill-timed but also a deliberate act of economic oppression against Nigerians, who are already struggling under unbearable economic conditions.
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“Furthermore, the improved service quality promised during the last tariff hike, particularly for consumers under the so-called ‘Band A’ category, has not been realised.
“Most consumers, regardless of their tariff band, continue to live in perpetual darkness.”
Osifo added that the NAC also examined the planned 50 percent increase in telecom tariffs and fully endorsed the position of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NIC), in rejecting the move.
The TUC president said the decision to increase the tariffs was made without proper consideration of its economic impact on the masses.
On the proposed introduction of toll gates, he said the congress also rejected it entirely.
“While we acknowledge that tolling is a globally recognised method of generating revenue for road maintenance, it is unacceptable to impose tolls on roads that are unpaved, dilapidated, and riddled with potholes.
“The NAC views this as an insult to Nigerians who are being asked to pay tolls on roads that are in total disrepair.
“Our highways are death traps, unsafe, abandoned, and filled with potholes. Rather than fulfilling its responsibility to fix and maintain these roads, the government is resorting to extortion.
“The Congress, therefore, demands that all roads earmarked for tolling must first be fixed, properly tarred, and repaired to international standards before any discussion on tolling can be entertained,” the TUC president concluded.