President Bola Tinubu’s minister of power has been accused of implementing a policy with the “highest form of 419”NLC President Joe Ajaero made the allegation against the minister while condemning the electricity policy of migration and distribution of power supply to Band A, B, C, D and EThe union leader maintained that the policy is discriminatory and it was concocted to make money unnecessarily
Joe Ajaero, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) President, has described the migration plans and electricity band policy by President Bola Tinubu’s minister of power, Adebayo Adelabu, as fraud.
The union leader maintained that the policy was discriminatory, adding there some Nigerians should not be in band A and others would be in lower bands.
Joe Ajaero, NLC presiden, criticised Adebayo Adelabu’s electricity policy
Photo Credit: @BayoAdelabu, @NLCHeadquarters
Source: Twitter
NLC president condemned Band A, B policy
Ajaero condemned the service-based tariff, which categorised the electricity users into different bands based on the service delivery by the electricity distribution companies, saying it is the highest form of ‘419’.
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Adelabu, during a budget defence at the National Assembly last week, claimed that 90 percent of electricity subscribers on Band A confirmed that they are getting the benefits of being in that category. He revealed that more subscribers would soon be migrated to Band A to enjoy electricity for longer hours.
However, the NLC president, while speaking on Channels Television, queried the idea of migrating Nigerians from one band to another.
His comment reads in part:
“Now the ministry is talking about migrating from Band B To Band A, that is the highest level of 419 one can think of.”
What does ‘419’ mean in Nigerian language
In Nigeria, the term ‘419’ has, over the years, been used to describe fraudulent activities. Ajaero then wonders what kind of Nigerians are in Band A and Band B. He wonders if the distribution is based on geographical area or a dictate of the service provider.
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He posited that in countries targeting 24-hour power supply, there was no place for Band A and Band B and concluded that the idea is concocted to make unnecessary money and called it migration.
He questioned the conditions to be on Band A or B and stressed that the policy is discriminatory, saying the idea remained an issue to be addressed.
Is electricity now stable in Nigeria?
In Nigeria, Band A enjoys an electricity supply for up to 20 hours per day, Band B gets a minimum of 16 hours, Band C 12 hours, Band D eight hours, and Band E up to four hours.
The NLC president also faulted the move by the federal government to make provision for the power distribution companies in the 2025 budget, adding that they are privately owned.
He stressed that such money could be utilised in other areas while the privately owned distribution companies could generate their money to run their affair.
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FG takes action on incessant power grid collapse
Henzodaily.ng earlier reported that Bayo Adelabu, the minister of power, has ordered that the outdated equipment in the power sector should be immediately replaced to prevent incessant national grid collapses.
The minister noted that the move was part of the inter-agency committee’s recommendations to address the issue.
Adelabu hinted that the committee had recommended a short, medium, and long-term solution to the continuous national grid failures.
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Source: Henzodaily.ng