Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), yesterday, lambasted President Muhammadu Buhari for the frequent collapse of the national grid since May 2015 when he took office.
The group demanded the immediate sacking of the Minister of Power, Abubakar Aliyu, for “inefficiency, especially with the fifth collapse of the national grid in 2022 alone.”
In a statement by its National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, HURIWA is described as “shameful and sign of a failed leader, the widespread blackout that besieges Nigerians all the time due to the collapse of Nigeria’s electricity grid.”
It lamented that the Buhari administration was “mishandling the electricity power sector like a bunch of infants groping in the dark.”
Onwubiko wondered what “has become his campaign promises to revive the electricity power sector. He should restore the sector to the stage that it was in 2015 before his government came on board.”
There was a widespread outage across the federation on Sunday following the collapse of the national grid, making it the fifth this year alone. Many electricity distribution companies alerted customers to messages on social media.
It was learnt that the incident occurred around 6.49 p.m., leading to the shutdown of outgoing electricity feeders of some power distribution companies.
HURIWA continued: “The recurring electricity power failure is unfortunate and totally avoidable. More saddening is the inability of President Buhari to put the right expert in place as a minister due to nepotism and partisanship, which is inevitably hurting and harming the citizens.
“The World Bank just predicted that more Nigerians will fall into poverty, and we think the deliberate failure of the Buhari administration to fix the electricity power sector due to endemic corruption, would contribute massively to more joblessness as small and medium scale enterprises that rely on power supplies from the national grid will fold up, and are already disengaging their staff.
“Despite the humongous amount spent on the power sector, no improvement has been made as corruption continues to cripple this vital sector.
“For instance, the Buhari government has spent over N1.7 trillion on the electricity sector since 2017. In September 2021, Buhari said Nigeria needed over $400 billion to fund its critical energy needs, according to a statement quoted by Bloomberg.”
The national coordinator went on: “Also, according to the World Bank, the Buhari government has borrowed a total of N1.3 trillion since 2017 to ensure that generation companies continue generating electricity,” adding that it would cost the Federal Government an additional N3.08 trillion through 2023 if current performance levels and low tariffs persist.
