President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero, has raised concerns about the plans of the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, regarding electricity bands and the migration of users from one band to another.
Ajaero expressed his dissatisfaction, calling out what he described as a discriminatory practice in the distribution of electricity, and referred to the proposed migration plan as the “highest level of 419.”
The controversy began after Adelabu’s recent budget defense at the National Assembly, where he stated that 90 percent of users in Band A have confirmed that they are receiving the promised benefits of longer electricity supply.
He further mentioned that more customers would be migrated to Band A, which promises more consistent power delivery.
However, Ajaero questioned the fairness of the entire system during his appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today. He noted that categorizing electricity users into different bands, based on service provided by distribution companies, seemed arbitrary and unjust.
“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, referring to the Nigerian slang for fraudulent activity.
Ajaero’s objections were centered on the fact that the assignment of users to specific bands, such as Band A and Band B, appeared to be based on unclear criteria.
“Who is in Band A and who is in Band B? Is it based on the 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-hour 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,” he said.
As reported, Band A represents users who receive power for at least 20 hours per day, while Band B users get a minimum of 16 hours, Band C enjoys a minimum of 12 hours, Band D receives at least 8 hours, and Band E users experience a minimum of just 4 hours of power supply.
In addition to his criticisms of the migration plan, Ajaero also took issue with the federal government’s decision to allocate funds for power distribution companies, which are supposed to be privately owned, in the 2025 national budget.
He suggested that the government should use the money allocated for improving the power sector in other areas and that private companies should be responsible for funding their own operations through their generated revenue.
