The Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) has called for the resignation of the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu.
NLC expressed anger over the continuous collapse of the national power grid.
In a statement late signed by the NLC President, Joe Ajaero, on Tuesday, the union expressed deep concern over the worsening state of Nigeria’s electricity sector, which it described as being on the brink of total collapse.
Ajaero said, “If the Ministry of Power is manned by competent officials, the now embarrassing constant grid collapse would have been averted instead of the worrying statement by the Minister that this will continue as if this has always been the norm.
“We believe that this is a clear admission of incapacity and failure by the Ministry and we wonder why they would not do the honourable thing by resigning.
“It has to be noted that the number of times the National Grid has collapsed under these helmsmen is more than all the previous leaders in the history of our nation combined. Rather than the garrulous remarks, Nigerians expect more seriousness in handling their affairs.”
Ajaero also slammed the minister over the proposed allocation of ₦8 billion in the 2025 budget for “sensitisation of Nigerians on the need to pay electricity bills, accusing the Ministry of Power of prioritising frivolous projects over critical infrastructure.
He said, ”The Power sector in Nigeria is at the brink of collapse as the helmsmen have repeatedly shown gross incompetence. It is a sector where the National Electricity Regulatory Commission despite the enormous power invested in it by the Electricity Act of 2023 has continuously demonstrated incapacity to regulate or outrightly refused to discharge its responsibilities to electricity consumers in Nigeria while the Minister in charge is enamoured with seeking about N8bn to teach Nigerians how to pay electricity bill.
“It is therefore not surprising that power grid collapse is now a constant as it has continued to succumb to greed and crass incompetence.”
