The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has declared the privatization of Nigeria’s power sector a catastrophic failure that is currently in a near-comatose state.
The NLC’s President, Comrade Ayuba Wabba, declared this on Monday at the Nigeria Employers Summit 2022, which was hosted by the Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA) in Abuja.
Wabba, who was represented by Najeem Usman Yasin, the NLC’s Deputy President, bemoaned the fact that Nigerians are “paying a high price for megawatts of darkness.”
He contended that there could not be any meaningful development in the country unless the national infrastructural gaps are addressed.
The NLC President said: “The recent slump in the national electricity supply which is as a result of constant failure of our electricity grids indicates that Nigeria still has a long way to go in making power supply available to the citizenry.
“The organised private sector has concluded that the state of the public electricity supply as of today, as evident that most productive and residential areas in Nigeria no longer enjoy up to six hours of electricity supply.
“This has confirmed that the recent privitisation of Nigeria’s power sector is a complete failure.
“Nigerians still pay heavily for megawatts of darkness.
“Government has tried provision of palliatives and bail-out to the so-called private sector investors in the power sector, but all to no avail.”
As a result, the President of the NLC has asked for the privatisation of the power sector to be reversed and the restoration of power sector assets to Nigerians.
He also bemoaned the fact that Nigeria was losing business to neighboring African countries as a result of the country’s epileptic power supply.
Wabba stated that in order for the organized private sector to contribute meaningfully to wealth creation, job creation, and the promotion of long-term national development, the government must create an enabling environment for the private sector.
