Disturbed by incessant power outages, grid collapse and the hike in electricity tariffs, the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE), the Amalgamated Union of Public Corporations Civil Service Technical and Recreational Services Employees (AUPCTRE) and two civil society organisations – the Renevlyn Development Initiative (RDI) and the Citizens Free Service Forum (CFSF) have called on the Nigerian Senate to urgently convene a Public Hearing to address the issue.
The groups lamented the embarrassment that the power grid collapse caused the nation as well as the huge costs that Nigerians now expend on alternative power supply via electricity generators along with the environmental and health impacts.
in a letter to the Nigerian Senate dated 27 January 2025, they said that the electricity sector privatization carried out about 12 years ago has failed Nigeria’s over 230 million people with power generation still oscillating between 4,000 megawatts and 5,800 megawatts.
The letter, addressed to the Senate President, Dr. Godswill Akpabio, was jointly signed by Comrades Adedeye Adebiyi and Dominic Igwebike, NUEE National President and General Secretary respectively, Comrades Benjamin Anthony and Sikiru Waheed, AUPCTRE National President and General Secretary respectively, Comrade Sani Baba, Executive Director of CFSF and Philip Jakpor, Executive Director, RDI.
They drew their conclusions from a recent report by the Senate Committee on Power which investigated frequent national grid collapses and related issues, and admitted that the sector was in turmoil.
They also decried the incessant hike in electricity tariffs and the balkanization of Nigerians into electricity bands, insisting that it has created an unnecessary class system in the society.
To address the situation, they demanded a reversal of the privatization of the sector, and a halt to World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) suggested initiatives on privatizing Nigeria’s public assets under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) or any model that places profits over service delivery and human rights. In its place, they recommended the adoption of the Public-Public-Partnership model which has proven to be successful as against privatization which is inefficient and has become a conduit pipe to fleece the nation.
They also demanded a sustained investment in human capital development in the public sector to pave the way for efficiency and transparency in their operations and an end to practices that unfairly target workers in exercises that are carried out to strengthen government institutions.