The Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, has proposed the merger of the Ministries of Petroleum and Power into the Ministry of Energy as a viable solution to the country’s epileptic power supply.
This comes as the workers’ union rejected the proposed N6 trillion bailout to electricity generation and distribution companies by the Nigerian government.
NLC’s president, Joe Ajaero, made these positions known in a statement at the weekend amid the lingering crisis in the country’s power sector.
According to him, public funds should not be used to subsidize failed private entities, referencing Gencos and Discos.
He said that the proposed N6 trillion bailout to GenCos and Discos will only address the symptoms, not the real problem Nigeria’s power sector faces.
Ajaero said the failed privatization of the power sector in Nigeria has proven that it is not the solution.
“Therefore, we are proposing a radical structural intervention: the immediate merger of the Federal Ministry of Petroleum and the Federal Ministry of Power to create a single, unified Ministry of Energy.
“By merging the ministries, we take the first step toward de-commodifying energy.
“We move towards a system where the State, through a coordinated Ministry of Energy, can mobilize public finance for investment in generation, transmission, and distribution, just as it is done in nations that have lifted their citizens out of poverty,” he said.
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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