THE two in-house unions in the Power sector,the National Union of Electricity Employees, NUEE, and the Senior Staff Association of Electricity and Allied Companies, SSAEAC, have set up a merger committee, to fuse togother.

President-General of SSAEAC, Engr. Bede Opara, who disclosed this a briefing, said the aim was to ensure that organised labour in the sector remains united, strong and formidable to defend the interest of members and be able to confront the challenges ahead.

He faulted recent attempt by Government to gradually increase electricity tariff through the so-called MYTO System, saying it “ is targeted at further strangulating the poor masses to pay more for the electricity which Government has failed to provide. The Unions therefore vowed to challenge Government’s plan to double the tariff before handing over to its cronies under dubious privatization, programme. All over the world, reform process on power is taken as a gradual, steady and continuous process. The experience of Chile, Brazil and United Kingdom are good examples where Governments have even reversed some steps in the privatization direction. Despite the serious adverse effect on citizens, the Government has continued to speed up the process of privatization without regard for the effect of the policy on Nigerians.