The Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress, on Tuesday, suspended their strike for five days.

The strike which commenced on Monday was called to protest the failure of the Federal Government to approve new minimum wage by May 31 as well as its failure to reverse the hike in electricity tariff.

After a six-hour meeting with the leadership of organised labour in Abuja on Monday night, the Federal Government expressed the commitment of President Bola Tinubu to raising the N60,000 offered as the minimum wage.

The agreement stated, “The President of Nigeria, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, is committed to establishing a National Minimum Wage higher than N60,000; and the Tripartite Committee will convene daily for the next week to finalise an agreeable National Minimum Wage.”

The organised labour also agreed to “immediately hold meetings of its organs to consider this new offer, and no worker would face victimisation as a consequence of participating in the industrial action.”

These resolutions were signed on behalf of the Federal Government by Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, and Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Nkeiruka Onyejeocha.

The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has confirmed that labour union shut down the national grid to plunge the country into darkness as it commenced indefinite strike on Monday.

The nationwide strike is due to the federal government’s failure to increase workers’ new minimum wage offer above N60,000 and reverse electricity tariff hike.

The TCN in a statement issued in Abuja on Monday by its General Manager, Public Affairs, Ndidi Mbah, announced that the blackout began at approximately 2:19 am.

She said the incident started at 1:15 am when the Benin Transmission Operator, under the Independent System Operations unit of TCN, reported that all operators were forcefully removed from the control room.

According to TCN, staff members who resisted were assaulted, resulting in several injuries. With no control or supervision, the Benin Area Control Center was completely shut down.

Mbah said the labour union’s actions extended to other key transmission substations, including Ganmo, Ayede, Olorunsogo, Akangba, Osogbo, and Benin. The union’s activities also led to the opening of several transmission lines, exacerbating the situation.

According to her, the power generating sector has not been spared, adding that various generating stations were forced to shut down units, including the Jebba Generating Station, which shut down one unit, followed by the automatic shutdown of three other units due to high frequency issues.

She added that the development had sudden forced load cuts, destabilised the system, culminating in the nationwide grid collapse at 2:19 am.

Mbah, however, disclosed that despite the severe disruption, TCN had initiated efforts to restore the grid.

“At 3:23 am, TCN began recovery operations using the Shiroro Substation to attempt to feed transmission lines supplying bulk electricity to the Katampe Transmission Substation. However, ongoing obstructions by the labour union continue to hinder the grid recovery process”, she said.

The President of the Senate, Senator Godawill Akpabio, has said that the implementation of the national minimum wage of N494,000 demanded by the Organised Labour will force many private companies to dismiss their workers.

Akpabio stated this during an emergency meeting with the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) in Abuja on Sunday evening.

Akpabio, who pleaded with the NLC and the TUC not to go on the indefinite nationwide strike slated for Monday, said people must also be mindful of collateral damage when the new minimum wage being demanded is approved.

“I don’t want us to end up with a lot of serious issues of unemployment because as soon as we arrive at the minimum wage, we will expect the private sector to also adhere and then if they are unable to do so, the next thing will be detachment of workers,” Akpabio said.

He, however, said whatever agreement will be made between the government and the Labour leaders will be in the interest of Nigerians.

“This is a major step in the right direction. Like you said, all of us are workers, we also have workers in our home, and our children are also workers. Whatever agreement we have done will be mutually beneficial to all, the government and the workers,” Akpabio added during the meeting.