The President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and General Secretary of the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE), Joe Ajaero, has described the power sector as “the biggest scam in the country,” alleging that it has become a preserve of powerful interests.
YesAjaero questioned the very intent of privatizing the power sector.
“Was privatization meant to improve electricity supply? It is important that we realize this. Privatization was never meant to improve power supply.”
He recalled that prior to privatization, licences were granted to private individuals who failed to develop capacity. He stressed that the total capacity of NEPA (later PHCN) stood at roughly 4,000 megawatts, a figure that remains shockingly unchanged today.
“At the time, I led the union and we warned them that if they privatized and split the system into 20 companies, it would still be the same 4,000 megawatts they were sharing. And that is exactly what happened. Eko, Ikeja, Ibadan, Enugu DisCo, and others are all still depending on the same 4,000 megawatts. The unbundling and privatization were not meant to increase capacity.”
Ajaero characterized the process as a structural division rather than an infrastructural expansion, designed primarily to create administrative roles rather than boost generation, transmission, or distribution capacities.
“They claimed they wanted to privatize NEPA because it was obsolete. Yet they were all fighting to buy the same supposedly obsolete equipment. They also claimed NEPA was inefficient, but it was that same NEPA that was divided into 20 entities and sold. How did they expect that to improve power supply?”
