NLC PRESIDENT AJAERO SLAMS POWER MINISTER’S CLAIM THAT 150M NIGERIANS HAVE ADEQUATE ELECTRICITY AS INSULTING
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The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has strongly criticized what it described as an outrageous remark by the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, who claimed that 150 million Nigerians currently enjoy “adequate electricity” with a supply of 5,500 megawatts.
In a statement released on Wednesday, NLC President Joe Ajaero denounced the claim as not only false but deeply insensitive, calling it a cruel joke on citizens who endure persistent blackouts, excessive electricity tariffs, and a power sector driven by private gain at the expense of national development.
Ajaero argued that suggesting over 150 million Nigerians have reliable power in a country struggling to generate a fluctuating and insufficient 5,000 megawatts far short of the global standard of 1,000 megawatts per one million people is both insulting and disconnected from the harsh reality Nigerians face daily.
He said by that standard, Nigeria should be generating no less than 150,000MW to justify such a claim. Yet, even on its best day, the country’s electricity generation has never exceeded 5,500MW—and that figure remains unstable and unreliable.
NLC went on to say, “We want to ask, is Nigeria’s standard different from world standard? Where are the power plants that make this level of supply possible? Where is the upgraded transmission infrastructure to support such output?
“Why are our homes still shrouded in darkness and our factories shutting down daily? This is not how performance is measured but could be likened to a joke carried too far. The truth is that millions of Nigerians, from urban slums to rural communities, continue to live without access to electricity.
”The few who have access do so under constant threat of disconnection, blackouts, and financial exploitation through a complex pyramid of inflated tariffs.
“The crisis we face today is the direct result of the grand betrayal that was the 2013 power sector privatisation an exercise that handed over the nation’s critical infrastructure to cronies for just N400 billion. Over a decade later, there has been no improvement in service delivery. Yet, these same GenCos and DISCOs, which have failed the nation woefully, are to receive over N4 trillion in public subsidies with zero accountability.”
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