NLC demands end to power privatisation, condemns N3trn GenCo bailout

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has condemned Nigeria’s electricity privatisation, describing the exercise as a “grand deception”.

The NLC demanded an immediate reversal of the model, alleging that the proposed N2tn to N3tn bailout for power generation companies was a ploy ahead of the 2027 general election.

Speaking at the National Union of Electricity Employees’ (NUEE) annual conference of women and youth in Abuja at the weekend, the NLC President, Comrade Joe Ajaero noted that over a decade after the unbundling of the power sector, electricity generation had remained stagnant at between 4,000 and 5,000 megawatts, “the same level as before privatisation”.

Ajaero said: “A decade after the much-celebrated privatisation, what do we have? 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.”

Ajaero accused electricity distribution companies of persistently rejecting allocated loads from the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) while Nigerians grappled with frequent grid collapses and soaring tariffs.

He described the privatisation of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) successor firms as a fraudulent transfer of public wealth to investors who allegedly lacked both the technical capacity and financial strength to manage the assets.

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The NLC boss added: “The so-called investors did not bring fresh capital into this country. They borrowed heavily from Nigerian banks, draining domestic credit and worsening pressure on the naira.

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

Ajaero also faulted the band classification system, which categorises consumers into Bands A, B, and C based on hours of supply, saying it had become a backdoor mechanism for tariff hikes.

On the Federal Government’s plan to pay between N2tn and N3tn to generation companies as subsidy arrears, the NLC boss said there was no justification for “such a massive bailout to private firms that have failed to deliver.”

“The electricity subsidy claim remains a phantom. That N3tn is another ruse and goes nowhere. We see this as a clandestine move to settle the boys as the 2027 elections approach. Every kobo of the treasury belongs to the workers and people of Nigeria,” he stressed.

While acknowledging the provisions of the new Electricity Act that devolve power generation and distribution to states, Ajaero warned that decentralisation alone would not solve the structural challenges plaguing the sector.

Ajaero called for a national stakeholders’ summit comprising workers’ unions, manufacturers and experts to develop what it termed a “People’s Power Roadmap” focused on affordable and stable electricity, public investment in generation and transmission infrastructure, service-reflective tariffs and a reversal of the privatisation model.

“The Nigerian people cannot continue to pay for darkness. When power is not available, it cannot be affordable. Power must be returned to the people,” Ajaero added.

The Star