By Praise Chinecherem
Two human and pro-democracy groups have asked President Ahmed Bola Tinubu to sack Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu with immediate effect despite his apology to Nigerians over his unfortunate gaffe of poor electricity usage.
Adelabu had in an unguarded moment while defending the astronomical increase in electricity tariff blamed Nigerians for being responsible for epileptic power supply in the country because they took advantage of cheap power supply
The groups, Campaign for Democracy (CD) in the South East and Human Rights Liberty Access and Peace Defenders’ Foundation (HURIDE) in a joint statement rejected the apology by the Minister, insisting that he was not fit to be a Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in view of his utterances and comportment.
The groups in the statement signed by the chairman of CD in South East and Executive Director, of Human Rights Liberty Access and Peace Defenders’Foundation HURIDE, High Chief Dede Uzor A Uzor, said the Minister should not even wait to be asked to throw in the towel before doing that given his unguarded falsehood.
The statement reads in part, “Adelabu is one of those Nigerian leaders who believe that leadership position confers on them the authority to lord it over the people they are supposed to serve and talk down on them.
If Tinubu is a democrat as he mouths, he should by now have flushed out the Minister. Those in leadership positions from the President to the Ministers, Governors, Senators, House of Representative members and others should know that they are the servants of Nigerians, not their masters.
” These type of garrulous public office holders always put their boss in trouble as Adelabu has done to Tinubu. He has already created an image problem for the Tinubu administration. The president should flush him out now.”
The groups also condemned the outrageous increase in electricity tariffs by the Federal Government, saying there is no justification whatever for that arbitrary and astronomical Increase.
“There is no power supply to justify such a huge and mindless increase coupled with already biting economic hardship due to subsidy removal from petrolatum products and massive devaluation of the naira even when we are witnessing serious national outrages
“The arbitrary increase without gauging the opinions of teeming Nigerians signposts a Government that is insensitive and unpopular.
“Tinubu Government is already unpopular. The Government is collapsing, yet they went ahead to increase electricity tariff most arbitrarily.
“Tinubu Government, in fact the All Progressives Congress (APC) has not done anything to improve the electricity supply in Nigeria.
“Why the government should encourage monopoly in the industry, most of the distribution companies ought to have been split into three, four or five to allow for healthy competition just like in the Communication industry
“The distribution companies do not do anything to improve the electricity supply in the country but like vampires, they suck from Nigerians their hard-earned resources.
“The greater part of the problem of electricity is corruption both from the Government and distribution companies, while about 50 percent of consumers are yet to be metre and it is a deliberate policy by DISCOs’ to continue to milk consumers dry through crazy, arbitrary and astronomical billings.”
