The president of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero, says the privatisation of Nigeria’s electricity industry has failed and plunged workers, households and businesses into deeper energy poverty.
He stated that more than ten years after the handover to private investors, the electricity sector is still plagued by repeated grid collapses, inadequate supply and escalating tariffs. Ajaero made these remarks at the annual women and youth conference of the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) in Abuja, where he urged authorities to undertake a far-reaching reassessment of the power industry.
‘PRIVATISATION WAS A GRAND DECEPTION’
Ajaero noted that power generation has hovered between 4,000 and 5,000 megawatts — virtually unchanged from pre-privatisation levels — which he described as proof of structural failure. He said, “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.”
He labelled the privatisation process a “grand deception”, arguing that national assets were handed to investors lacking both the expertise and financial capacity to manage them effectively. According to him, the investors depended heavily on loans from local banks to acquire distribution and generation firms without bringing in substantial foreign capital, thereby straining domestic credit and exerting 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.
The NLC president also faulted the electricity band classification framework, saying it places heavy financial demands on consumers without ensuring steady supply. He said, “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.”
Ajaero further raised concerns over reports that the federal government may disburse between N2 trillion and N3 trillion to generation companies. He stated, “The electricity subsidy claim remains a phantom as the 3 Trillion Naira is another ruse and goes nowhere. 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,” he said.
While recognising the Electricity Act that transfers certain responsibilities to state governments, Ajaero maintained that decentralisation alone cannot fix the industry without a coherent national structure. He said the NLC is pushing for a broad national stakeholders’ summit involving labour representatives, manufacturers and industry professionals to craft a people-focused roadmap aimed at delivering affordable, stable electricity, boosting public investment in generation and transmission, and implementing service-based tariffs.
“The Nigerian people cannot continue to pay for darkness,” Ajaero added.