The Trade Union Congress of Nige­ria has reiterated its position against the moves by the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), the distribution and generation companies to increase electricity tar­iff, saying that Nigerians are not ready to pay for the electricity they did not con­sume.

Following a meeting held with officials of NERC last Thursday, the Congress in­sisted that the NERC elec­tricity tariff increment is anti-people and lacks every sense of logicality hence the series of warning protest rallies and picketing of of­fices of NERC and electric­ity distribution companies throughout the country.

It described as lame, the argument in some quarters that an act of the National Assembly actually empow­ers the Commission to unilaterally increase tariff and that the act cannot be tampered with even by the Federal Parliament. In a statement released on Sunday, the TUC Presi­dent, Comrade Bobboi Bala Kaigama said: "For us, any act, policy or idea if you like, that does not consider the poor masses is undemocratic and evil. It is evil because it further impoverishes the masses."

"Naturally, our thinking is that business is all about investment and profit and not the other way round. Every business has its ges­tation period before it starts generating profit which un­fortunately, NERC and the investors do not want to go through the pains. If they need contributions from people to invest, then Ni­gerians will willingly invest and become shareholders in the companies, but for NERC, DISCOs and GEN­COs to give the consumers crazy bills in order to mus­ter enough money without making them partners is unacceptable," he said.

Further expressing TUC's displeasure on the matter, Kaigama said: "It is imperative that inves­tors realise that govern­ment privatised the sector because it could no longer fund it. The investor is ex­pected to fund the sector without inflicting pains on the masses. The Congress told the NERC officials that truly, the challenges in the sector are enormous and that these remain the rea­son why it was privatised.

TUC, however, advised the officials to re-strategise saying, "Nigerians are good followers and shall be will­ing to pay their bills if the product is available. We are not ready to pay for the electricity we did not con­sume."