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 that 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 are witnessing 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. The N3 trillion is another ruse that goes nowhere. We question the rationale behind the Federal Government’s alleged plan to pay between N2 trillion and N3 trillion 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, which 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.
