The National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) has picked holes in the injection of over N3trn by Federal Government into privatised electricity companies.
The Secretary General of the union, Joe Ajaero, disclosed this during the public hearing on a bill to amend Electric Power Sector Reform Act 2005 to provide the legal and institutional framework for the implementation and coordination of Rural Electrification Projects, the establishment of the National Power Training Institute and Regulatory provisions to strengthen the sector for efficient service delivery and other related matters.
He lamented that the government has continued to inject funds into the entities without commensurate increase in power generation in the last 10 years.
Ajaero, who argued that the privatisation has further compounded the country’s economic woes, maintained that the privatisation policy was designed to fail from the onset.
According to him, there has not been meaningful improvement or contribution by the current investors nine years after they took over and 17 years after the Electric Power Sector Reform Act 2005 became law.
He emphasised the need to review the entire privatisation exercise, saying: “Our position on privatisation is clear. Having tried privatisation for 10 years, and we are doing just the amendment of sections of the Act when the Act gives provision for the review of the sector after five years. We have written consistently for a review of the entire sector, yet it has not happened.
“This Act, are we really obeying it? If there is provision for review after five years, and Nigerians are groaning consistently, Nigerians are complaining and we say privatisation was based on the fact that government doesn’t have any business doing business, yet it is pumping money into private businesses.
“As we speak, almost N3 trillion has been pumped into the power sector which were not available when government owned these businesses.”
So, what’s the logic to say government has no business in business, yet government has continued to pump and fund the business of individuals. We need to sit down and see what is working for us.
“If you put N2 trillion into the economy of Nigeria today, it will thrive better, yet such fund is being pumped into businesses owned by individuals.”
