Joe Ajaero, president of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) says the privatisation of Nigeria’s electricity industry has failed and plunged workers, households and businesses into deeper energy poverty.
He said more than a decade after privatisation, the sector
remains characterised by frequent grid collapses, poor supply and rising
tariffs.
Ajaero spoke at the annual conference of women and youth of
the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) in Abuja, where he called
for a comprehensive review of the electricity sector.
‘PRIVATISATION WAS A GRAND DECEPTION’
Ajaero said electricity generation has remained largely
stagnant at between 4,000 and 5,000 megawatts, the same level recorded before
privatisation, describing the situation as evidence of systemic failure.
“Instead of progress, we witness regression. Instead of
light, we have darkness. The national grid collapses with the frequency of a
faulty generator, sometimes plunging the entire nation into blackout,” he said.
The NLC president described the privatisation of the power
sector as a “grand deception”, arguing that public assets were transferred to
investors who lacked the technical capacity and financial strength to manage
them.
According to him, the core investors relied heavily on loans
from Nigerian banks to acquire distribution and generation companies without
injecting fresh foreign capital, a move he said weakened domestic credit and
contributed to pressure on the naira.
“…They acquired the DISCOs and GENCOs on a shoestring budget
and now expect Nigerian workers to pay for their loans through outrageous
electricity tariffs,” he said.
Ajaero also criticised the electricity band classification
system, describing it as a policy that burdens consumers without delivering
reliable power.
“Band A consumers pay through their noses but still receive
epileptic power supply. This government is asking Nigerians to pay for
darkness. We reject this segregation. Electricity is a right, not a commodity
to be auctioned to the highest bidder while the poor are left in the dark,” he
said.
The NLC president further questioned reports that the
federal government plans to pay between N2 trillion and N3 trillion to power
generation companies.
“The electricity subsidy claim remains a phantom as the 3
Trillion Naira is another ruse and goes nowhere. We question the rationale
behind the Federal Government’s alleged plan to pay between 2 and 3 trillion
Naira to the GENCOs. We describe it as a clandestine move to ‘settle the boys’
as the 2027 elections approach,” he said.
While acknowledging the Electricity Act that devolves
certain powers to states, Ajaero said decentralisation alone would not resolve
the sector’s challenges without a clear national framework.
He said the NLC is demanding a national stakeholders’ summit
involving workers, manufacturers and sector experts to develop a people-centred
power roadmap that prioritises affordable and stable electricity, public
investment in generation and transmission infrastructure, and
service-reflective tariffs.
“The Nigerian people cannot continue to pay for darkness,” Ajaero added.
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