The Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) has called for Adebayo Adelabu, the Minister of Power, to resign due to ongoing power outages in Nigeria.
NLC President Joe Ajaero released a statement on Tuesday night regarding the worsening condition of the nation’s electricity industry. He described it as nearing total collapse.
“The now embarrassing constant grid collapse would have been avoided if the Ministry of Power was staffed by competent officials,” said Ajaero. He criticized the Minister’s troubling statement that “this will continue as if it has always been the norm.”
Ajaero accused the Ministry of admitting its failure to manage the power sector effectively. “We question why they would not resign and do the right thing. The National Grid has failed more times under these politicians than all of our country’s prior presidents put together,” the Labour leader complained.
Instead of making light of the situation, Nigerians expect serious management of their concerns, Ajaero said.
Minister’s Misplaced Priority
He also criticized the Minister’s proposal to allocate ₦8 billion in the 2025 budget to educate Nigerians on electricity bills, arguing that the Ministry prioritized unnecessary projects over critical infrastructure repairs.
“The Nigerian power sector is on the verge of collapse due to the helmsmen’s repeated displays of egregious incompetence,” he said.
He said that while the minister focuses on the bill payment campaign, the National Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has failed to regulate the sector properly.
“This has led to regular power grid breakdowns due to avarice and blatant ineptitude” Ajaero stated.
He mentioned that the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) owes over ₦200 billion to contractors.
Ajaero also pointed out a case where NERC allegedly worked with a distribution company to fire its managing director for whistleblowing. “It seems inconceivable that NERC would penalize a whistleblower rather than praising and shielding them,” he remarked.
The NLC president stated that the union would monitor developments in the industry closely and cautioned against using the budget process for unnecessary spending. “We will not tolerate waste of public monies in the name of governance,” he warned.
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