NLC CRITICIZES DISCOS’ BANDING OF CONSUMERS, WARNS OF STRIKE ACTION
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By: Balogun Ibrahim
The Nigeria Labour Congress has threatened nationwide industrial action over persistent electricity grid failures, saying that more than a decade after the sector’s privatisation, it has only delivered “darkness, exploitation and economic pain.”
The labour union also condemned the classification of consumers into Bands A, B, and C, calling it a form of institutionalised extortion.
Speaking at the annual women and youth conference organised by the National Union of Electricity Employees in Abuja on Sunday, NLC President Joe Ajaero issued what he described as a final warning to authorities and power operators, vowing that organised labour would oppose any further tariff hikes or policies that increase hardship without improving electricity supply.
He lamented that over 10 years after the unbundling and sale of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria’s successor firms, electricity generation remains between 4,000 and 5,000 megawatts—almost the same as pre-privatisation levels—despite a growing population and rising industrial demand.
Describing the situation as shameful, NLC President Joe Ajaero called for a comprehensive review of the electricity sector.
He said, “We once again raise the alarm over the deplorable state of the nation’s power sector. The failed privatisation experiment has pushed Nigerian workers, women, youth, and industries into deeper energy poverty as the national grid continues to collapse, while DISCOs repeatedly reject loads from the Transmission Company of Nigeria.”
“Instead of progress, we see regression. Instead of light, we face darkness. The national grid fails as often as a faulty generator, sometimes plunging the entire country into blackout. This is not the turnaround we were promised; it is a calculated exploitation of the Nigerian people,” Ajaero added.
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The Nigeria Labour Congress reiterated that the privatisation of the power sector was “a grand deception,” describing it as a fraudulent transfer of public wealth into the hands of a few speculators lacking the technical expertise and financial capacity to manage the nation’s electricity assets.
“Nigerian banks, not the investors themselves, largely funded the acquisitions, draining domestic credit and contributing to the naira’s depreciation. These investors acquired the DISCOs and GENCOs on a shoestring budget and now expect Nigerian workers to repay their loans through exorbitant tariffs,” Joe Ajaero said.
He added that the consumer band classification system effectively acts as a hidden tariff increase, imposing higher costs on customers without corresponding improvements in service.
“Banding is simply institutionalised extortion. Band A consumers pay exorbitantly yet continue to receive erratic electricity supply. The government is essentially asking Nigerians to pay for darkness. We reject this segregation. Electricity is a right, not a commodity to be sold to the highest bidder while the poor remain in the dark,” Joe Ajaero said.
He also criticized reports of a proposed bailout for generation companies, questioning the justification for such a move.
“There is no reason to provide a massive bailout to private firms that have consistently failed to deliver. If the government is truly committed to the welfare of Nigerians, it must stop using public resources to enrich a cartel of failed investors,” he added.
The NLC president called on the government to revert the electricity sector to a social service model, arguing that only the state can manage the heavy capital investment and long gestation period required for reliable power supply.
“The private sector has failed. It is time to return power to the people,” Joe Ajaero said.
Ajaero called for a national stakeholders’ summit involving workers, unions, manufacturers, and energy experts to develop a roadmap focused on affordable and reliable electricity, reversing the privatisation framework, and increasing public investment in power infrastructure.
“The Nigerian people cannot continue to pay for darkness. Electricity cannot be affordable when it is unavailable. Power must be returned to the people,” he stressed.
The Media reports that Nigeria has long struggled with insufficient power generation and frequent system collapses, with actual supply falling far below installed capacity.
In response, the Federal Government has recently outlined reform plans aimed at settling debts, upgrading infrastructure, and moving toward tariffs that better reflect market realities.
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