National blackouts are avoided when electric workers cancel strike after the government

Nigeria narrowly escaped the national outage on Thursday when electric workers suspended their industrial actions only 10 hours after starting, following a high -level intervention by the Federal Government in an ongoing dispute with the Nigerian transmission company (TCN).

The strike, which was launched by the National Union of Electricity Steards (Nuee) and the Association of Electricity and Allied Senior Staff (SSAEAC), was canceled after an emergency meeting in Abuja which united high officials from the Ministry of Federal, the Ministry of Manpower and Work, TCN Management, operators of the Independent Nigeria (NISO) (NISO) (NISO) (NISO).

The workers have demeaned the tools because of complaints that have been going on for a long time ranging from poor staff welfare to critical operational failures. Their strikes have triggered fear throughout the full scale of power outages.

In a circular dated September 24, 2025, Acting Secretary General Nuee, Dominic Igwebike, stated that the union could no longer stand still while the rights of members were violated and the Nigerian electricity supply industry (Nesi) continued to deteriorate.

“It is regrettable that TCN management has chosen to treat these critical problems with disobedience and ignores its hardworking staff. We cannot continue to fold our weapons while our rights are trampled and the electrical sector is deteriorating. For the purpose of being drawn into it, which is drawn by his managers, which will be drawn by his managers, thus, the withdrawals to do things that are directed at the managers.

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Among the complaints of workers are non-implementation of new national minimum wages, staff casualization, unpaid salaries originating from April 2025, lack of operational tools and vehicles, and failure to provide Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) since 2021. They also quoted unresolved issues related to TCN and non-payment non-payments.

However, the Marathon negotiations on Thursday ended with a temporary ceasefire. According to a communication issued after the meeting, the union received the Minister of Power’s appeal to review the Permanent Committee’s report, with the deadline set for 6-7 October 2025. The implementation of recommendations is expected to begin in the same month.

Communike also revealed that TCN and Niso will jointly assess the financial requirements of the proposed reform and prepare an implementation plan to be submitted to the Minister and Trade Unions. Further meetings have been scheduled to solve extraordinary problems.

In addition, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) was instructed to track the tariff review process to help facilitate the implementation of the agreement.

One of the most significant results of the meeting was the consensus that no workers would be punished for participating in strikes.

With this guarantee, the trade union agreed to suspend their strikes, the warning, that the suspension was conditional.

Labor representatives describe the resolution as “measured victory,” but warned that every failure by the government or TCN to respect the agreement will result in the start of industrial action immediately.

This development has brought temporary assistance to millions of Nigerians, whose homes and businesses reinforce the impact of prolonged power outages.