Don’t derail our plan for power sector, FG tells labour

“My appeal again is that they should please not derail or distract our transformation plan for the industry. We have a documented reform roadmap to take us to our desired destination, where we’re going to have reliable, functional, cost-effective and affordable electricity in Nigeria. It cannot be achieved overnight because this is a decay of almost 60 years, which we are trying to correct.”

He said there was the need for sacrifice from everybody, “from the government’s side, from the people’s side, from the private sector side. So we must bear this sacrifice for us to have a permanent gain”.

Speaking to State House reporters following the Federal Executive Council meeting on Tuesday, Minister of Power Adebayo Adelabu encouraged labour unions to stage nonviolent protests while acknowledging their right to do so.
"They are free to organise nonviolent protests and make their demands; we cannot stop them. Permit me to clarify. He declared, "The administration of President Bola Tinubu is also a listening government.

He continued by saying that the Federal Government has received the requests of the demonstrators and that Tinubu is dedicated to enhancing the electricity industry.
The minister declared, "We have listened to their demands, we'll consider them, we'll have more conversations, and I think we're going to come to a peaceful conclusion with the workers because no government can succeed without the cooperation, partnership, and collaboration with the labour unions. We thus applaud the nonviolent protest, and I'm glad it wasn't violent. They've stated their stances, the government has complied with their requests, and we're investigating.

"However, I would like to point out that, according to the data of individuals impacted by the rate rise, over 95% of those who participated in yesterday's nonviolent protests on the road were unaffected by the increase in electricity prices. Due to the fact that the average cost of producing, transferring, and distributing power is currently N180, they continue to benefit from a government subsidy of about 70% of the tariff they cover.

"Many of them pay less than N60, which allows them to continue receiving government subsidies." They are not impacted, in all honesty, when they suggest that we should rescind the recently raised tariff. One position, that.Again, I beg you, please do not impede or divert from our transformation plan for the industry. We have a documented reform roadmap to take us to our desired destination, where we’re going to have reliable, functional, cost-effective and affordable electricity in Nigeria. It cannot be achieved overnight because this is a decay of almost 60 years, which we are trying to correct.”
All parties, including the government, the people, and the commercial sector, needed to make sacrifices, according to him. In order to obtain a lasting benefit, we must make this sacrifice.

"I want to avoid a recurrence of the low generation that we had in February and March. Every household, business, and institution felt the effects of this, as there was very little electricity available. We have seen that electricity has improved from the small reform we've implemented since the beginning of April, and things can only become better.