Power outages: NLC seeks new power sector roadmap

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has called on the federal government to evolve a new power roadmap, following tne failure of the 2014 power privatisation to provide sokution to Nigeria’s power problem.

In a statement signed by Joe Ajaero, the NLC President, on Sunday, Ajaero, in his assessment of the power ector privatisation program, declared  that the failed privatisation experiment has plunged Nigerian workers, women, youth, and industries into deeper energy poverty as the national grid continues to collapse, while DISCOs persistently reject Loads from the Transmission Company.

Speaking at the National Union of Electricity Employees’ (NUEE) Annual Conference of Women and Youth in Abuja, during the week, Ajaero indicted the  current Power Sector regime, calling for an immediate and comprehensive review of the entire sector.

Ajaero lamented that a decade after the much-celebrated privatisation of the Power Sector, electricity generation remains comically stagnant at between 4,000 and 5,000 Megawatts; the exact same level as the pre-privatisation era.

He said that this remains shameful and demonstrates how stagnated our nation has become.

According to him, “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. This is not the ‘turnaround’ we were promised; this is a well- orchestrated robbery of the Nigerian people,”

The NLC leader maintained that the Power sector Privatisation was a Grand Deception.

He described the exercise as a “fraudulent transfer of public wealth into the hands of a few speculators who lacked both the technical expertise and the financial backbone to manage the nation’s electricity assets.

“The so-called investors did not buy these companies with their own money. No foreign exchange was brought in though the companies were touted to have come from outside our shores. They borrowed heavily from Nigerian banks, draining domestic credit and contributing to the depreciation of our naira.

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“They acquired the DISCOs and GENCOs on a shoestring budget and now expect Nigerian workers to pay for their loans through outrageous electricity tariffs,”

The NLC, while noting that Nigerians cannot continue to pay for darkness, therefore, demanded for “a National Stakeholders’ Summit; not another talk shop, but a genuine convergence of workers led by their unions, manufacturers, and genuine experts; to draft a Power Sector Roadmap that prioritises: Affordable and stable electricity for all. A reversal of the failed privatisation model. Service-reflective tariffs, not cost- reflective extortion and Public investment in generation and transmission infrastructure.”

Ajaero who also condemned the Band classification (A, B, C), described it as ” a capitalist tool designed to further impoverish the masses.

He described the policy as a backdoor tariff hike that burdens citizens with cost-reflective billing without offering service-reflective delivery. Banding remains the institutionalization of extortion of Nigerians by the rich.

“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 declared.

The NLC leader also noted that the electricity subsidy claim remains a phantom as the ₦3 trillion is another ruse and goes nowhere.

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“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.

“We insist that there is no justification for such a massive bailout to private firms that have failed to deliver. If this government is serious about the welfare of Nigerians, it must stop using our commonwealth to enrich a cartel of failed investors. Every kobo of the treasury belongs to the workers and people of Nigeria.

The NLC also insists that the “State Must Return the Power sector as a Social Service if we wish to make progress as a nation. Global examples shows that no nation has successfully run its electricity sector purely as a profit-driven enterprise without inflicting hardship on its citizens. We call for the immediate return of the State as the primary driver of the Power Sector.

“Electricity is not a luxury for the rich; it is a social service essential for national development. It is only the State that can bear the huge capital investment required and the long gestation period for returns. The private sector has failed. It is time to take back the power for the people.

“We therefore call for a People’s Power Roadmap. While acknowledging the new Electricity Act which devolves power to the States, the NLC warned that decentralisation alone is not a magic wand. Without a clear, national, and worker-centred roadmap, the bottlenecks will persist.”

“The Nigerian people cannot continue to pay for darkness. The NLC stands ready to work with the masses and within our networks to resist any further exploitation in the name of electricity reform. When Power is not available, it cannot be affordable. Power sector must be returned to the people” he said.

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