The Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) has demanded that Adebayo Adelabu, the Minister of Power, resign due to the frequent outages of the country’s electrical infrastructure.
The NLC President, Joe Ajaero, issued a statement late Tuesday night in which the union voiced serious concerns about the deteriorating condition of Nigeria’s electrical industry, describing it as being on the verge of complete collapse.
“The now embarrassing constant grid collapse would have been avoided if the Ministry of Power was staffed by competent officials,” Ajaero remarked, in contrast to the Minister’s alarming declaration that “this will continue as if it has always been the norm.”
“We think that the Ministry has admitted their failure and incapacity clearly and concisely, and we question why they would not resign and do the right thing.
“It must be mentioned that the National Grid has failed more times under these politicians than under all of our country’s prior presidents put together. Nigerians anticipate more serious management of their concerns instead of the jovial comments.”
Additionally, Ajaero criticised the minister for proposing to use ₦8 billion in the 2025 budget to “sensitise Nigerians on the need to pay electricity bills,” claiming that the Ministry of Power was giving priority to pointless projects over vital infrastructure.
“The Nigerian power sector is on the verge of collapse due to the helmsmen’s repeated displays of egregious incompetence.
“While the minister in charge is obsessed with raising roughly N8 billion to teach Nigerians how to pay their electricity bills, the National Electricity Regulatory Commission has repeatedly shown that it is incapable of regulating this sector or has flatly refused to fulfil its duties to Nigerian electricity consumers, despite the Electricity Act of 2023’s massive investment in it.
“As a result, it is not unexpected that power grid breakdown has become a regular occurrence due to avarice and blatant ineptitude,” he stated.
Given that contractors in the Transmission Company of Nigeria owe more than N200 billion, the NLC president said that the N8 billion was an inappropriate priority.
“The Transmission Company of Nigeria owes over N200 billion to its contractors who assist in delivering capacity, while the Minister is seeking N8 billion to educate us.
“The procurement committee would have taken up further contracts, adding to this burden, had it not been for the unions’ intervention in the industry in December 2024,” Ajaero stated.
The National Electricity Regulatory Commission was also criticised by the union for not carrying out its regulatory responsibilities.
The NLC president claims that the commission has shown a lack of ability and a reluctance to safeguard electrical users.
He brought up a recent instance in which NERC allegedly conspired with a distribution company’s board to fire its managing director for revealing unethical behaviour.
“It seems inconceivable that NERC, a body charged with maintaining efficiency and transparency, would penalise a whistleblower rather than praising and shielding them.
“NERC is not ready to fulfil its mandate based on this.”
The president of the NLC declared that the union will keep an eye on industry developments and cautioned against any attempt to exploit the budget process as a means of approving unnecessary spending.
To prevent complete collapse, he urged the Nigerian government to immediately revitalise the electricity industry.
Ajaero also warned that ignoring these problems would further undermine public trust in the government.
“We are adamant that ineptitude must not be rewarded and that those who commit it must be held accountable, and we will not tolerate the waste of public monies in the name of governance.”
