The Nigeria Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) on Tuesday in Abuja protested poor remuneration and welfare by the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company.

Mr. Isaac Abegye, Deputy President, Northern Zone of the union, said the privatisation of the sector had brought untold hardship to the electricity employees.

“Our workers are not properly taken care of; they are collecting peanuts as salaries compared to when we were in PHCN.

“The casualisation of workers that we fought against is being brought back and people are collecting N50, 000 and others are collecting N1.9 million.

“No, medical care is not there, workers are using their bare hands to work, no tools, no materials.

“Vehicles are not there and ladders are being carried on the neck.

“It is deadly; it is dangerous; we are in pains.

“As workers of this organisation, we have spoken: Cancelled privatisation!”

Abegye said that it was imperative for the Federal Government to review the privatisation policy.

According to him, government must not turn a blind eye to the issues affecting workers and the country as a whole.

“Nigerians are losing their jobs on daily basis because of privatisation; experienced workers are being thrown out of their jobs.

“Where mediocre people are being brought in, who are merely consultants, collecting money and paying peanuts; that is what is happening.”

Also speaking, Mr. Temple Iworima, the Zonal Organising Secretary of the union, urged the Federal Government to call the management of the company to order.

“AEDC workers, we are like slaves in our Father land, and we came out this morning to say: enough is enough.”

“Giving them warning, that if this thing continues, we will shut down, there will not be light in the FCT.

“But for today, we just want to lock all the gates in AEDC, just to show solidarity we do not want this; there is no way our people will be suffering.”

He alleged that some of the equipment procured by the company were substandard, adding that the situation resulted in the death of workers on high tension cables.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the workers who were protesting carried placards with various inscription such as ‘Enough is enough,’ ‘AEDC correct disparity of salaries among your employees now,’ ‘We say no to retrenchment, disengagement under any guise.’

Others include ‘AEDC, do not turn us to slaves in our father’s house,’ ‘Ghost workers are paid in millions, while hard working staff are paid N50.000,’ among others. (NAN)

*Photo shows AEDC LOGO.

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