The Kaduna State government has intervened in the ongoing industrial dispute between Kaduna Electric and its workers’ union, which has resulted in power outage in all its franchise states for four days.
The Deputy Governor, Dr Hadiza Balarabe, who hosted the meeting at Sir Kashim Ibrahim House on today, pleaded with the union to restore electricity to consumers as soon as possible because the outage has impacted negatively across all sectors.
Dr Hadiza implored the management and the union to find a common ground to ensure the resolution of their differences, as the lack of power has badly affected homes, businesses and with attendant security implications.
She further said that the management and the workers of the company need each other and that they should continue to hold dialogue on a regular basis even when the present impasse has been resolved.
Speaking earlier, the National Vice President (Distribution) of the National Union of Electricity Employees, Comrade Wisdom Chidi Nwachukwu, said that the union is not against the downsizing of workers but wants due process to be followed and all their entitlements paid.
He pointed out that both the union, management and workers of Kaduna Electric are members of the same family but as the workers’ representatives, they want the management to follow laid down procedure in the pruning down of the workforce.
The union leader promised that he and other officials would communicate the deputy governor’s plea to their headquarters, pledging that the matter would be resolved soon.
In his presentation, the Managing Director of Kaduna Electric, Malam Umar Abubakar Hashidu, said that the management is looking at efficiency, progress and sustainability of the company, clarifying that it was 444 workers that were laid off.
According to him, the company would be unable to meet basic obligations like payment of salaries and may ultimately fold up if action was not taken by the management.
Hashidu also said that the two parties would hold another round of meetings with a third party, promising that the matter would be resolved soon.
The meeting was attended by the senior government officials like the Secretary to Kaduna State Government, Dr Abdulkadir Mu’azu Meyere, the Chief of Staff to the Governor, Alhaji Sani Liman Kila, the Special Adviser on Research, Documentation and Strategy, Mr Fabian Okoye, and the Managing Director of Kaduna Power Supply Company, Engr Idris Aminu Idris.
