…Rejects N4trn bailout for DisCos, GenCos
By Victor Ahiuma-Young
Abuja — The Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, has blasted the Federal Government over Tuesday’s total collapse of the national electricity grid, accusing it of deliberately engineering the power sector to fail while Nigerians are forced to pay exorbitant tariffs for darkness.
In a statement signed by NLC President Joe Ajaero, the congress said it observed “with utter disgust—though not with surprise — the total collapse of the national electricity grid today.”
The statement continued, “This recurrent catastrophe is not an accident; it is the direct and inevitable result of a capitalist ruling class that has deliberately engineered the power sector to fail, to loot, and to keep the Nigerian people in a state of perpetual underdevelopment and exploitation. It is part of the consequences of refusing to listen to citizens and civic actors, while kowtowing to the peddlers of neoliberal policies.
“This latest collapse is a stark indictment of this administration and the entire neoliberal, pro-market charade that has defined the power sector since its so-called privatization. The government, hiding behind compromised agencies, has once again demonstrated that it has neither the political will nor the ideological clarity to deliver stable electricity to the masses.
“We state categorically that the problem is not a technical one; it is a problem of predatory power sector governance and a kwashiorkor economic model.
“The sector is crippled because it is run by a cabal of the wrong individuals—unqualified political cronies and economic buccaneers who see our national infrastructure not as a tool for development, but as a trough from which to siphon public wealth.
“How else does one explain the scandalous appointment of a former local government chairman, with no known expertise in energy economics or engineering, to the pivotal position of Chairman of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC)? This is not an appointment based on competence; it is a political settlement, a reward for loyalty in a system that thrives on patronage at the expense of merit.
“It is an insult to the intelligence of every Nigerian and a clear signal that the regulatory body is designed to be a toothless bulldog—a mere rubber stamp for the profiteering of the DisCos and GenCos.
“The NLC has been made aware of a proposed N4 trillion government payment to these same failed operators. We reject this outright! To sink another kobo of public money into the pockets of these private entities is an act of economic betrayal against the Nigerian people.
“This colossal sum is not meant to ‘fix’ anything; it is a grand scheme to indemnify failure. That N4 trillion is more than enough to begin a radical, state-driven process of building a new, democratically controlled power sector from the ground up—a sector owned by the people and run for the people.
“We are trapped in a vicious cycle where a comprador bourgeoisie, in cahoots with their international finance capital allies, has structured the economy to serve foreign interests and a tiny local elite.
“The continued collapse of the grid is a direct attack on our national productivity. It kills small businesses, stifles industrialization, creates mass unemployment, and inflicts untold hardship on millions of households forced to pay exorbitant tariffs for darkness.
“The NLC therefore suggests that if the government is truly interested in fixing the power sector, it must first address the nature, character, and capacity of its appointees. Appointing the right individual to head NERC and replacing all key leadership in the sector with proven, experienced, and patriotic technocrats—not political jobbers—would be key to reviving it.
“Since government claims to have N4 trillion to invest in the sector, we demand that these funds be redirected towards a public-led initiative to build new generation capacity and revitalize transmission infrastructure, rather than handing them over to the DisCos and GenCos.
“Once again, we call for a comprehensive public audit of the entire power sector since the failed privatization, and for a fundamental review of the privatization model itself with a view to reviving this critical sector. This has become an urgent imperative.
“The working class and the suffering masses of Nigeria will no longer tolerate this darkness. We will no longer accept excuses for a crisis that is manifestly man-made. The fact that government continues on this path of deliberate failure demonstrates its lack of seriousness in fixing the sector.
“This is not a plea; it is a declaration of intent. The light must come on, by any means necessary.”
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