The trade unionists who vilify the Federal Government's power road map are not employees of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) but people who engage in professional agitation and propaganda for their self interest, Power Minister Prof. Barth Nnaji has said.

Speaking at the 2012 Annual Herbert Macaulay Memorial Lecture organized by the University of Nigeria, Nsukka on Saturday, Nnaji said despite commendations for the liberalization of the power sector and the privatization of PHCN successor companies, the unionists continued to disparage the efforts.

"The National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) and the Senior Staff Association of Electricity and Allied Companies (SSAEIC) by the very nature of their opposition ... are guided by self serving interests.

"It is important to note that some of the vociferous attackers among the trade unionists in the power sector are not employees and they have never worked in this sector. They are professional trade unionists whose services may be contracted tomorrow by the labour union of road transport workers or that of theatre workers. This is why they engage perennially in agitation and propaganda rather than substantive and critical issues in the sector. They do not really have a stake in the sector, unlike PHCN workers," he said.