The Nigeria Labour Congress has threatened a nationwide industrial action over the persistent collapse of Nigeria’s electricity grid, describing over a decade of power sector privatisation as a failure that has delivered “darkness, exploitation and economic pain” to citizens.
Speaking at the National Union of Electricity Employees Annual Conference of Women and Youth in Abuja, NLC President Joe Ajaero issued what he called a “final warning” to authorities and operators in the power sector, insisting that organised labour would resist further tariff increases that do not translate into improved electricity supply.
Ajaero lamented that more than 10 years after the unbundling and sale of the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria, electricity generation remains between 4,000 and 5,000 megawatts — roughly the same level recorded before privatisation — despite population growth and rising industrial demand.
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He described the reform programme as a “grand deception,” alleging that successor generation and distribution companies lacked both the financial capacity and technical expertise to manage the assets effectively.
According to him, many of the firms financed acquisitions through loans from Nigerian banks, transferring the financial burden to consumers through high tariffs.
The NLC also criticised the classification of consumers into Bands A, B and C, describing it as “institutionalised extortion.”
Ajaero argued that the banding system functions as a backdoor tariff increase, compelling consumers — especially those in Band A — to pay higher, cost-reflective tariffs without receiving consistent service.
“Electricity is a right, not a commodity to be auctioned to the highest bidder,” he said, rejecting what he termed service failures masked as reform.
The labour body questioned reports that the Federal Government plans to spend about N3tn to settle debts owed to generation companies.
It described the move as unjustifiable, insisting that public funds should not be used to rescue private firms that have failed to improve service delivery.
The NLC called for the return of the state as the primary driver of the power sector, arguing that electricity should be treated as a social service rather than a profit-driven enterprise.
The Congress demanded a National Stakeholders’ Summit involving workers, unions, manufacturers and energy experts to develop a new power sector roadmap. It advocated:
Reversal of the current privatisation model
Service-reflective tariffs instead of cost-reflective pricing
Increased public investment in generation and transmission infrastructure
While acknowledging the new Electricity Act that decentralises aspects of the sector to states, the NLC warned that decentralisation alone would not resolve systemic bottlenecks.
Meanwhile, power generation companies under the Association of Power Generation Companies defended the sector, citing liquidity challenges as a major constraint.
The Chief Executive Officer of the association, Joy Ogaji, urged the Federal Government to extend its proposed N3.6tn subsidy framework beyond 2028, warning that the sector’s liquidity crisis cannot be resolved within three years.
Nigeria’s electricity sector continues to struggle despite an installed capacity of about 12,522MW, with average daily generation hovering around 4,200MW which is far below national demand.
The NLC maintained that it is prepared to mobilise workers and the wider public against what it describes as further exploitation under ongoing electricity reforms.
