The Department of State Services (DSS) has stepped in to mediate a dispute between the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Ikeja Electric, one of Nigeria’s leading electricity distribution companies, over alleged poor treatment of its workers.
The Assistant General Secretary of the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE), Comrade Mbang Ntukubes, confirmed the DSS intervention during an interview at Ikeja Electric’s Lagos headquarters.
Expressing dissatisfaction with the company’s management, Comrade Ntukubes described the conditions facing workers as exploitative. “The place here has been turned into a slave camp. The management treats the workers as slaves,” he stated.
He explained that despite a jointly negotiated agreement outlining standards for discipline, promotions, training, and staff exits, Ikeja Electric had allegedly disregarded these conditions. “They have jettisoned all these provisions,” he said, adding that management’s actions included dismissing staff arbitrarily and selectively promoting others, in violation of agreed-upon policies.
Ntukubes also criticized the company’s lack of commitment to implementing the new minimum wage. “They sack at will and promote who they want to without following the condition of service. Now we are talking about the new minimum wage, they are not ready to say anything about it,” he added.
The ongoing unrest, he said, was a result of the company’s failure to uphold its part of the agreement. “The management has not come directly to say what the pain is,” Ntukubes remarked, referencing a recent breakdown in negotiations. “What you are seeing is all the reaction to the peaceful means we have tried to resolve these issues.”
The DSS, in an effort to mediate, has now engaged with both parties, inviting them to explore a middle ground and seek a resolution.
