The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, Kano/Jigawa branch has raised an alarm that thousands of jobs are at risk of being lost as factories are facing shutdown in the two states.
This is contained in a statement jointly signed by Mohammed Umar and Nura Madugu, MAN Chairman Bompai/Jigawa and Sharada Challawa respectively, a copy of which was made available to The Punch on Wednesday.
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In the statement, the association alleged that the Kano Electricity Distribution Company, has threatened to disconnect them by Friday, May 3.
It was gathered that KEDCO’s threat might not be unconnected with the recent letter written by the industrial companies in Kano and Jigawa rejecting the recent increase in electricity tariff.
Piqued with the manufacturers’ rejection, KEDCO replied to them, asking them to withdraw their rejection letter by Friday or risk disconnection.
MAN described the development as unfortunate, saying, “this will definitely lead to the closure of many factories.”
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According to the manufacturers, all the workers in the factories would be laid-off, “thereby worsening the position of labour market.”
The Association expressed fear that the aftermath of closing down the factories would have a very serious security implications in the two states.
“In view of the above, NERC should know that before carrying out this type of review, they must make sure that all the determining factors to all Discos are satisfied not only on paper but also in practice.
“In line with the above, we are requesting the power sector regulator (NERC) to reconsider this discriminatory tariff review and stay within the provisions of the MYTO II Guidelines and Procedures. As such, there is no basis for increase without prior notification and consultation with the stakeholders.
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“We also wish to notify the Federal Government to either do something about this issue or the industrial sector in Kano and Jigawa would be under threat of extinction,” the statement concluded.
Effort to contact KEDCO’s Head, Corporate Communication Unit, Sani Bala Sani failed as he did not respond to the several phone calls made to his mobile phone and reply to the SMS message sent to him as at the time of filing this report.
