NLC urges FG to merge power, petroleum ministries into energy ministry

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has urged the Federal Government to merge the Ministries of Power and Petroleum Resources as part of measures to end the current epileptic power supply in the Country.

The NLC said the move is to free the nation’s thermal power generation, which accounts for the bulk of the grid capacity, from being held hostage by gas supply gap.

Joe Ajaero, President of the NLC, In a Statement on Sunday, said the Union viewed with grave concern the continued stagnation of the nation’s power sector, a situation that had succeeded in crippling the manufacturing sector, as well as frustrating development across the Country.

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The NLC said the recent alarm raised by the Union on the proposed ₦6 trillion bailout for power generation companies was merely a symptom of a deeper structural rot.

The Union said the nation cannot continue to apply bandages to a system that is fundamentally fractured.

“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.

“For too long, these two critical ministries have operated in silos, serving the interests of separate fractions of the bourgeoisie while the productive base of our economy collapses.

“This gas is controlled by an industry; the Petroleum sector; that operates like a rent-seeking enclave with no accountability to the people’s need for electricity”, the Union noted.

The Union stated that it is “unfortunate that the government through the “petroleum industry” treats gas as a commodity for export to fetch foreign exchange for the elite, while the “power sector” begs for feedstock to keep the lights on.

“This functional dependency is a design flaw that serves the primitive accumulation of capital. The Petroleum Ministry prioritizes the profits of International Oil Companies (IOCs) and local moguls, while the Power Ministry is left to explain to Nigerians why the grid collapses because the gas pipelines are empty or vandalized by those who profit from the importation of diesel and generators.

“The NLC demands the creation of a unified Ministry of Energy to break these compartmentalised fiefdoms. This is not a mere administrative tinkering; it is a political demand to assert national sovereignty over our energy resources.

“Under a single ministry, there would be one minister accountable to the Nigerian people, not a collection of officials playing the blame game. When the power plants are down due to lack of gas, the same ministry responsible for petroleum extraction would be directly implicated

“This would end the era where the Power Minister blames the Petroleum Minister, and the Petroleum Minister blames “market forces” and “global volatility.”

The NLC described the merger as “a pathway to rationalize the sector based on public interest, not private profit.

“It will facilitate; A holistic view of our energy assets, ensuring that gas; a national heritage; is first and foremost used to generate domestic power to industrialize the nation and create jobs, rather than being flared or exported while Nigerians suffer in darkness. This we are sure will enhance a national Energy planning which is key to national development.

“It will allow Nigeria price electricity fairly by ending the “Cost-Reflective” model. As we know already, the current regime forces Nigerians to pay for the inefficiency and greed of private investors. A unified Ministry would prioritize service-reflective tariffs as service delivery becomes the Ministry’s main driver. This way, we ensure that workers and Nigerians pay fair rates for actual service, not costs imposed by inefficiencies and greed.”

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The NLC reiterated its stand that “electricity is a social service and a fundamental right, not a luxury commodity to be traded on the various capitalists’ markets. The failed privatization experiment of 2013 has proven that the private sector cannot; and will not; solve Nigeria’s power crisis. Their business model is built on extracting maximum tariffs while providing minimum service.

“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”.

The Labour Union also called on the Federal Government to; initiate the process of merging the Ministry of Petroleum and the Ministry of Power into a single Ministry of Energy; and, urged the government to halt the proposed ₦6 trillion bailout to the GENCOs.

” Our commonwealth cannot be used to settle a cartel of failed investors; convene a genuine National Stakeholders’ Summit to draft a People’s Power Roadmap that prioritizes public ownership, energy security, and the welfare of Nigerian workers and masses.

“The working class and the people of Nigeria cannot continue to be hostages to the artificial scarcity created by the decapitation of our national resources. We demand that the government treat our energy as a unified whole, managed for the benefit of the many, not the greed of the few.

“When workers and the broader citizenry are in darkness, the economy is paralyzed. It is time to unite the ministries, unify the vision, and take back the power sector for our nation!”