The group said that the gross embezzlement of funds meant for the upgrade of the country’s power sector by corrupt appointees and profiteers had thrown Nigerians into darkness.
A civil society, Revolutionary Socialist Movement (RSM), has accused the Nigerian government of being responsible for the perpetual collapse of the national power grid.
The group said that the gross embezzlement of funds meant for the upgrade of the country’s power sector by corrupt appointees and profiteers had thrown Nigerians into darkness.
The RSM in a statement made available to SaharaReporters on Tuesday lamented that despite the huge amount of money that had been pumped into the sector, the national grid was still struggling to generate 5,000 megawatts, when its installed capacity was 12,522 megawatts.
The group in the statement signed by its Publicity Secretary, Salako Kayode, said, “The Revolutionary Socialist Movement (RSM) protests against the continued failure of the state and the private sector to secure electricity as a basic human right to all Nigerian citizens.
“We consider the Nigerian ruling class, which is thirsty for more and more profits, to blame for this collapse of the power sector. This is despite the huge amounts of money that are spent by different administrations to support the private sector in energy production and distribution.
“In fact, billions of naira of public funds was used to bail out the different companies in the power sector. N6billion released by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) were mismanaged and the same happened with other distribution and generation companies.
“To us, the Nigerian power sector has suffered from massive corruption and manipulation by many appointees and profiteers in the last 61 years. This was possible because of the lack of accountability and transparency in the system.”
The RSM also argued that the privatization of Nigeria’s power sector has also made it difficult for Nigerians to have 24-hour electricity supply.
“That is the main reason why 43% of Nigerians don’t have access to electricity, so they are forced to rely on solar power, power banks and generators. The country ranks 171 out of 190 nations in terms of access to electricity, according to the World Bank.
“As we speak, Nigeria power plants stations can’t generate up to 5,000 megawatts, when its grid has an installed capacity of 12,522 megawatts. The organisation of this system has obviously failed; it only continues to work for the sake of the profits of those involved,” RSM stated.