‘Nigerians Are Tired Of Your Propaganda, Let There Be Light, Not Lies’ – NLC Blasts Minister Adelabu

The Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) has condemned the statement made by the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, claiming that 150 million Nigerians now enjoy adequate electricity, with a capacity of 5,500 megawatts (MW).

Naijaonpoint reports that the NLC President, Comrade Joe Ajaero, in a statement issued on Wednesday, April 23, 2025, said Nigerians are tired of propaganda and statistical gymnastics.

The NLC emphasised that global standards require at least 1,000MW per one million people, meaning Nigeria should be generating no less than 150,000MW to meet current needs. However, the country is struggling to maintain a mere fraction, with no visible improvement in infrastructure or distribution.

The union further stated that it is disheartening that, after over 12 years of privatisation and the expenditure of trillions of Naira, the power sector has not experienced any significant capacity expansion or substantial infrastructure renewal.

The NLC also denounced the recent electricity tariff hikes under the Band A, B, and C system, describing the system as a tool for legalised exploitation, adding that Adelabu should refrain from insulting the people’s intelligence with fabrications and false hope.

The statement read, “This wild assertion is not only pretentious, it is a bad joke on a people daily confronted by grinding darkness, outrageous electricity tariffs, and a power sector manipulated for private profit at the expense of national progress. Perhaps, the Minister wants to perform Jesus’ miracle of feeding 5,000 persons with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fishes.

“For the Minister to suggest that over 150 million Nigerians have access to reliable power in a country that struggles to generate a meager and inconsistent 5,000 megawatts—far below the global benchmark of 1,000MW per one million people—is to insult the intelligence and lived realities of Nigerians.

“By that standard, Nigeria should be generating no less than 150,000MW to justify such a claim. Yet, even on its best day, the country’s electricity generation has never exceeded 5,500MW—and that figure remains unstable and unreliable.

“We want to ask; Is Nigeria’s standard different from world standard? Where are the power plants that make this level of supply possible? Where is the upgraded transmission infrastructure to support such output? Why are our homes still shrouded in darkness and our factories shutting down daily?

“This is not how performance is measured but could be likened to a joke carried too far. The truth is that millions of Nigerians, from urban slums to rural communities, continue to live without access to electricity. The few who have access do so under constant threat of disconnection, blackouts, and financial exploitation through a complex pyramid of inflated tariffs and arbitrary billing.

“The crisis we face today is the direct result of the grand betrayal that was the 2013 power sector privatization—an exercise that handed over the nation’s critical infrastructure to cronies for just N400 billion. Over a decade later, there has been no improvement in service delivery. Yet, these same GenCos and DISCOs, which have failed the nation woefully are to receive over N4 trillion in public subsidies with zero accountability.

“Unfortunately, and predictably too, there has been no sanction for incompetent DISCOs and GenCos as outlined in the Privatization agreement because the buyers seem to be the same as the sellers.

“Rather than fix the rot, this government now plans to sell off the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN)—the last publicly owned component of the power value chain. This move is not reform; it is economic ruse dressed in bureaucratic doublespeak.

“The recent electricity tariff hike, masked under the so-called “Band A, B, and C” classification, is nothing but a sophisticated scheme to legalize exploitation. While DISCOs have raked in over N700 billion from helpless consumers, power supply remains epileptic, erratic, and inaccessible to the majority.

“Our final Word to the Minister of Power; Nigerians are tired of propaganda and statistical gymnastics. Cease from insulting the intelligence of the people with fabrications and false hope. Let there be light—not lies.”