Joe Ajaero, President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), has criticised the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, over the implementation of electricity bands and migration plans.
Ajaero condemned the practice of categorizing users into different bands, such as Band A and lower bands, describing it as discriminatory.
He specifically took issue with the service-based tariff system, which allocates electricity users to bands based on the quality of service provided by distribution companies, labeling it as the highest form of ‘419’. During a budget defense session at the National Assembly this week, Minister Adelabu claimed that 90% of users in Band A have confirmed receiving the promised benefits and announced plans to migrate more customers to Band A for extended electricity supply.
However, Ajaero, who was a guest on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Thursday, questioned the idea of migrating customers from one band to another.
“Now the ministry is talking about migrating from Band B To Band A, that is the highest level of 419 one can think of,” Ajaero said on the programme. The local parlance 419 has become notorious for the description of fraudulent activities.
“Who is in Band A and who is in Band B? Is it based on geographical area that you have Band A or Band B or is it based on the dictates of the provider?
“In countries of the world that are targeting 24 hours power supply, why would somebody be talking about Band A or Band B? How would it happen? So, that idea is concocted to make money unnecessarily and say people are migrated.”
“What are the conditions to be on Band A? What are the conditions to be on Band Be? Why would you discriminate? Why would you give me Band B and give somebody Band A? So, these are the issues.”
Band A customers receive up to 20 hours of electricity daily, while Band B users get a minimum of 16 hours. Those in Band C are guaranteed at least 12 hours of power, Band D users receive a minimum of 8 hours, and Band E customers get at least 4 hours of electricity per day.
Ajaero also criticized the Federal Government for allocating funds to power distribution companies—despite being privately owned—in the 2025 budget.
He argued that government resources intended for improving the power sector should be redirected to other areas, insisting that private power companies should finance their operations using their own revenue.
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