NLC proposes merging Petroleum and Power ministries to fix blackouts
Nigeria's Labour Congress (NLC) has proposed merging the Federal Ministries of Petroleum and Power into a single Ministry of Energy as a structural solution to the country's persistent power outages. Rejecting the Nigerian government's planned N6 trillion bailout for electricity generation and distribution companies (GenCos and Discos), NLC President Joe Ajaero argued that public funds should not subsidize failed private entities. He stated the bailout would only address symptoms, not the root cause of the power sector's failure, citing Nigeria's unsuccessful privatization experiment. The NLC's radical intervention aims to de-commodify energy through coordinated public investment in generation, transmission, and distribution. This proposal comes amid ongoing blackouts affecting millions of Nigerians.