NLC to FG: Stop N38bn bailout to Discos

From Magnus Eze, Abuja

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has called on the Federal Government not to release the proposed N38 billion bailout to electricity distribution companies (Discos) for metering, just as it claimed that the nation’s power reform has gulped about N11 trillion in 16 years.

NLC President, Ayuba Wabba, stated this while inaugurating the new leadership of Labour Correspondents Association of Nigeria (LACAN) in Abuja yesterday.

He regretted that the present administration had sunk about N660 billion in intervention efforts to a sector that was allegedly privatised, stressing that there was no sense in injecting fund in businesses where the owners were required to possess the necessary competences including finance.

“If in about 16 years we have so far committed about N11 trillion to the power sector reforms and yet, what we have day in day out is numerous challenges of lack of power, then it makes no sense putting public funds into a private enterprise.

“It does not matter how long you have gone on the wrong direction. If you don’t get your direction right, it’s obvious that you will not be able to have the benefit of having stable power supply needed to drive our industries and the process of industrialisation,” he said.

Wabba said, “the process of diversification can only make meaning if we have steady power supply. We must also situate all these within the context of our challenge as a country. It is not about money. How can a government that is saying we are in a recession still advance from public money N38 billion to Discos as bailout to look for meters.

“This is a public enterprise because these companies have already been sold. If they don’t have the capacity and the resources, let them bail out,” Wabba stated.

He, therefore, called for the reversal of the entire privatisation process as no meaningful progress has been made in the sector.

Wabba further said, “the real issue here is actually the issue of good governance, transparency and accountability. We saw the example of Ethiopia. With less than $10 billion, they have built a power plant that is now generating power and even selling to neighbouring countries.

“We are still celebrating the attainment of between 5,000 and 6,000 megawatts when a country like South Africa is looking beyond 40,000 megawatts.”

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