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Power sector leaders gather in Abeokuta for PERESSA conference
key figures in the power sector convened in Abeokuta, Ogun state’s capital for the Precision, Electrical and Related Equipment Senior Staff Association (PERESSA)’s inaugural Quadrennial and ninth National Delegates Conference.
The event allowed labor representatives, advocates, and others to voice concerns regarding federal policies impacting employees and the general public.
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In his address, PERESSA President Rufus Olusesan criticized what he views as policies harming low-income groups from the federal government.
Re-elected without opposition, Olusesan argued that the nation’s economic woes are aggravated by the authorities’ inability to address widespread insecurity.
He stated: “We cannot afford to ignore the painful realities confronting Nigeria’s economy today. Inflation continues to erode the already meagre wages of workers, while unemployment has reached alarming proportions, leaving families in despair. The rising cost of living has gone beyond the reach of ordinary workers, threatening household survival, national productivity, and stability. Electricity tariffs have increased beyond affordability, making it difficult for homes and industries to sustain themselves. For manufacturers and small-scale businesses, the unaffordable cost of power undermines sustainability and forces many into collapse. The Federal Government must perish the thought of imposing a 5 per cent fuel tax on petrol, diesel, and other fossil fuels from January 1, 2026, or at any time, as contained in the Nigeria Tax Administration Act 2025. Such a reckless, anti-people policy comes at a time when workers and ordinary Nigerians are battling unprecedented hardship, spiralling inflation, high food prices, wage erosion, and worsening working conditions. The removal of fuel subsidies in 2023 already pushed pump prices from N197 to between N890 and N1,000 per litre. Adding another 5 percent — about N50 more per litre — will only deepen the survival crisis for millions. PERESSA notes that the recent statement by Taiwo Oyedele, Chairman of the Presidential Tax Reform Committee, dismissing reports of a 5 per cent fuel surcharge from January 2026 as “false and misleading,” reflects the deceptive rhetoric Nigerians have come to expect from government officials. Public denials often pacify citizens while exploitative measures are quietly drafted behind closed doors. This pattern of gaslighting deepens public distrust. The government celebrates a new N70,000 minimum wage, yet its value is already eroded by inflation, naira devaluation, and endemic corruption. Even the United States has publicly stated that such a wage cannot lift Nigerians out of poverty. It is hypocritical for elected officials — who allocate obscene salaries and perks to themselves — to expect workers, lecturers, doctors, and nurses to endure slave wages and economic strangulation. Fuel subsidy removal and naira devaluation were introduced to boost revenue, yet endemic corruption funnels national wealth into private pockets while factory closures and job losses push workers deeper into misery. For ordinary workers, this means an endless battle against hunger, unpaid school fees, and unaffordable medical bills — an existence on the margins of survival. PERESSA will continue to firmly reject the recently approved National Industrial Relations Policy (NIRP) 2025 by the Federal Executive Council led by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. This policy represents a dangerous escalation in attempts to suppress legitimate union activities, criminalise the right to strike, and entrench poverty wages under the guise of “harmonious industrial relations.””
Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) Deputy General Secretary Ismail Bello urged the labor community to band together against employers opposing workers’ interests.
Bello asserted: “According to him, there should be no hiding place for employers who undermine the right of workers to freedom of association. No employer has the right to choose a union for workers or help to organise workers. As workers, we must stand against any employer who undermines or denies workers the right to freedom of association.”
Nafiu Bala Gombe, the man on whose behalf the African Democratic Congress (ADC), is currently in a prostrate state, has admitted to getting outside help in prosecuting his legal matters against the David Mark camp.
Recall that Mark, former Senate President and Rauf Aregbesola were, last week, derecognised by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and had their names struck out based on the case filed by Gombe on September 2, 2025.
The commission had relied on the pronouncement of the Court of Appeal, which ordered parties in the case to maintain status quo ante bellum, which it interpreted to mean that it should not deal with either side.
Against the backdrop of the dust the matter had raised across the country, the embattled ADC leadership, had accused the former Deputy Chairman of being sponsored by the All Progressives Congress (APC) to play the spoiler role to enable President Bola Tinubu have no challenge in the 2027 presidential election.
Bolaji Abdullahi, spokesman of the Mark camp, had last week, stated this much when he wondered how Gombe, who on his own could not afford an ordinary lawyer, going by his financial status, would now be hiring more than three Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs) to represent him, which would probably run into tens of millions of naira.
Reacting on Tuesday, Gombe admitted getting outside help, but added that such assistance was not coming from government quarters or the APC, but from public-spirited individuals and Nigerians averse to the injustice being meted out to him.
Abimuku Monday, spokesman to Gombe, who spoke during an appearance on Morning Briefs, a breakfast programme on Channels Television, on Tuesday, told his host: “Before now, they were saying these people are big weights and we’re light weights. Now, we’re suddenly being seen as human beings. Earlier, we were seen as nobodies – as boys who don’t have capacity to challenge this in court.
“They say Nafiu Bala does not even have money to pursue his case. You see, that’s how they reduce people by their own estimation. They don’t find out who people. They have forgotten that for you to seek legal actions, there are so many ways to go about it.
“It is either you use your own money or your personal relationship with people. Does it mean that somebody in politics cannot have his own friends or cannot have lawyers as his friend or cannot have other members of the society as his friends.
“These are not members of the APC. They don’t belong to any party. They’re citizens of this country, who mean well for Nigeria. Nobody is scuttling the coalition. The fact remains that if you have a challenge, people will rally around you knowing it’s a good cause you’re fighting. People will rally around you to give you the necessary support that you need. They even called my principal a small boy.”
Serah Luca, a Christian woman, has returned N1 million she unknowingly took along with goods purchased from a trader at Terminus market in Jos, Plateau state capital.
Luca, a petty trader, reportedly said she made the purchase on Friday and only discovered the hidden cash after getting home.
She said her decision to return the money was driven by fear of God and her belief that she could not keep what did not belong to her, especially knowing the hardship that comes with losing money in business.
“I am a petty businesswoman. I know what it means to suffer loss. If I put that kind of money into my business, I believe God would punish me,” Daily Trust quoted her as saying.
The trader, Abubakar Dola, who deals in polythene bags at Terminus market, expressed surprise at the woman’s honesty, noting that he had no idea where the money went after mistakenly placing it inside the bag she bought.
Dola said he had planned to transfer the cash through a point of sales (POS) operator but became worried when he could not see the polythene bag where the money was kept.
“I mistakenly included it in what she bought. I didn’t realise until days later, and I had already given up hope. For her to return it after three days is remarkable. I pray Allah rewards her and gives us more people like her.”
“The entire country could be taken out in one night, and that night might be tomorrow night,” were the words with which US President Donald Trump, flashed the redlight signal over what could be the fate of Iran in the coming hours, after a month-old war, which saw leaders of the Islamic nation, all but totally obliterated.
The POTUS, who on Saturday, gave Iran 48 hours to to open the Strait of Hormuz to shipping traffic approaches, or comply or risk facing “hell,” later threatened that the US would blow up Iran’s power plants and bridges if Tehran failed to adhere to his warning.
However, in his latest threat on Monday, Trump told reporters that Iran had until Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET (1 am WAT) to make a deal, adding: “We have a plan, because of the power of our military, where every bridge in Iran will be decimated by 12 o’clock tomorrow night, where every power plant in Iran will be out of business – burning, exploding and never to be used again, I mean complete demolition – by 12 o’clock. And it’ll happen over a period of four hours if we want it to. We don’t want that to happen.”
Nafiu Gombe: Yes, I have sponsors! *I can’t fight ADC big men alone!
Woman returns N1million discovered in purchased items to owner
Strait of Hormuz: Comply now or you’ll be history – Trump warns Iran
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