Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has slammed the Minister of Power, Chief Adebayo Adelabu, over what it described as incompetence, failed leadership and wasteful foreign trips, despite Nigeria’s worsening electricity crisis.
In a statement signed by the association’s National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, HURIWA expressed disappointment that President Bola Tinubu’s promise to improve the electricity supply had not been fulfilled, as power outages persist nationwide.
The group highlighted frequent national grid collapses, erratic supply and rising electricity tariffs, which have severely impacted businesses and livelihoods.
The group recalled that in September 2023, the grid collapsed twice in one week, while another failure in February 2024 plunged major cities like Lagos and Abuja into extended outages.
HURIWA accused power sector officials of normalising the failures instead of taking decisive action.
The group compared Nigeria’s situation to developed nations, where even a single power failure would prompt immediate government intervention. The rights group also criticised Adelabu’s frequent international travels, questioning their impact on resolving Nigeria’s power issues.
It recalled that since assuming office, the minister had travelled to countries including Barbados, Tanzania, Japan and the United States, but argued that the trips had not resulted in any tangible improvements in the electricity supply.
Rather than embarking on foreign visits, the group asked Adelabu to focus on addressing fundamental challenges, such as poor infrastructure, inadequate funding and lack of transparency in the power sector.
