• Adebayo Adelabu
• CNCSOs
• CNPP
• Electricity
• Power

CONFERENCE OF NIGERIA POLITICAL PARTIES AND CIVIL SOCIETY COALITION DEMAND MINISTER OF POWER’S RESIGNATION OVER INCOMPETENCE AND ELECTRICITY CRISIS

• 

  CapitalTimesNews / 1 week
• 0
• 2 min read

The Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) and the Coalition of National Civil Society Organisations (CNCSOs) have demanded the immediate resignation of Nigeria’s Minister of Power, Adelabu Adebayo, over alleged incompetence and failure to resolve the country’s prolonged electricity crisis. In a joint statement signed by Comrade James Ezema, Deputy National Publicity Secretary of CNPP, and Alhaji Ali Abacha, National Secretary of CNCSOs, the groups described Adebayo as “a typical example of a round peg in a square hole,” accusing him of lacking the capacity to address systemic failures in the power sector. Ezema and Abacha, in the statement issued on Thursday, lamented that over 40% of Nigerians lack access to electricity, while the national grid struggles to deliver between 2,000MW and 4,000MW daily—a situation unchanged since the 1980s. They noted that the crisis has fueled economic stagnation, job losses, and the collapse of small businesses, stressing that Nigeria lags behind other African nations in electrification despite its resources. The coalition criticized Adebayo for failing to utilize the Nigerian Electricity Act of 2023, which promotes decentralized power supply and public-private partnerships. “His inability to market these opportunities to attract local and international investors has exacerbated the nation’s power crisis,” the statement read. Ezema and Abacha also cited a Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) report revealing three total grid collapses and two partial collapses in the fourth quarter of 2024, despite consumers paying N509.84 billion to distribution companies—a rise from N466.69 billion in the previous quarter. The groups questioned Adebayo’s expertise, noting his background in finance, hospitality, and agriculture rather than the power sector. “His appointment appears to be political patronage rather than merit,” they stated, urging President Bola Tinubu to redeploy him within seven days. “His continued tenure is untenable,” Ezema and Abacha declared, warning that the minister’s failures undermine economic recovery and public trust. They further criticized the Tinubu administration’s policies for worsening poverty and called for urgent action. “The power sector is too critical to be left in incompetent hands,” the duo emphasized, vowing to continue assessing the performance of government agencies. “Minister Adelabu must resign or be redeployed immediately to prevent further damage,” they concluded. The statement was signed by Comrade James Ezema and Alhaji Ali Abacha, who reiterated their commitment to holding leaders accountable to “the suffering masses yearning for good governance.”