The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has condemned recent remarks by the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, regarding the proposed hike in electricity tariffs, describing the minister’s position as insensitive and a failure of leadership.
In a statement signed by the Senate President of NANS, Comrade Usman Adamu, the student body criticized the minister’s repeated calls for tariff increases, arguing that such measures do not address the root causes of Nigeria’s power crisis.
“At a time when Nigerians are already gasping under the crushing weight of economic hardship—exacerbated by inflation, stagnant wages, and erratic power supply—it is not only insensitive but an outright dereliction of duty for the Honourable Minister to repeatedly prescribe tariff increments as the sole remedy for inefficiencies in the power sector,” the statement read.
NANS said it is deeply troubling that the minister, who holds a strategic national portfolio, has reduced the complexities of Nigeria’s power challenges to a “monotonous refrain of tariff increases.”
“If the Honourable Minister’s only strategy for improving power delivery is to periodically hike tariffs, then his service is a tragic emblem of administrative inertia and cognitive bankruptcy,” the statement added. “Governance demands ingenuity—not perfunctory fiscal adjustments that do nothing to improve supply but everything to deepen the woes of citizens.”
The students also accused Adelabu of failing to hold electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos) accountable, alleging that DisCos have exploited Nigerians through estimated billing, poor service delivery, and disregard for service agreements.
“Under Bands C and D, consumers are promised a minimum threshold of daily electricity supply, yet these benchmarks are consistently violated without consequence. The silence and inaction of the minister in the face of these daily infractions suggest either complicity or catastrophic negligence,” NANS said.
They called on the minister to provide answers to critical questions:
What reforms are being implemented to hold DisCos accountable?
What strategic plan exists to stabilize and decentralize the national grid?
What efforts have been made to make renewable energy more accessible?
“Instead of answers, we are bombarded with repetitive, anti-people pronouncements that show a complete disconnect from the realities of average Nigerians,” the statement continued.
NANS concluded with a firm demand for performance, innovation, and vision.
“Nigeria does not need a tariff enthusiast in the Ministry of Power—we need a reformer, a strategist, a visionary. If the Honourable Minister cannot fulfill the basic responsibilities of his office, he should do the honourable thing and resign, rather than continuously proposing tariff increases as the only solution.”