Yunusa Abubakar, Abuja
The Federal Government has denied speculations making rounds in some quarters that the Transmission Company of Nigeria, (TCN) would be privatised in the coming months.
This came on the heels of some media reports about the rumoured privatisation.
Denying the claim, a statement signed by Malam Isa Sanusi, the Special Adviser Media to the Minister of Power, Engr Abubakar Aliyu, urged the public to disregard such a report. The statement said government has no intention of privatising the TCN.
The statement reads in part: “These reports are untrue and are only mere misinformation aimed at spreading panic in the power sector, which is making progress towards ensuring that Nigerians enjoy uninterrupted power supply.
“The Federal Government of Nigeria has no intent to sell or privatise the Transmission Company of Nigeria, and no one in the FGN has made a statement of an intent to sell TCN,” the statement notes.
The statement vowed that the TCN is a centerpiece in the Federal Government of Nigeria’s efforts to rejuvenate the power sector. The Minister averred that based on this fact, the Ministry of Power has been working with key stakeholders to evaluate, assess and upgrade TCN to make it more efficient.
The Ministry of Power seized the opportunity to explain that, “As part of the repositioning of TCN, job opportunities are being created, as with the recently concluded ramp up of employment, contrary to claims that there is a plan for a mass disengagement of staff at TCN. The organization has also been carrying out sustained capacity building by training and retraining staff across all cadres for efficiency and service delivery.
The Ministry stressed the importance of transmission as a vital segment of the electricity value chain that constantly needs significant investment, adding that this is part of the best practices across the world.
The statement concluded by stating that the Federal Government maintains the transmission segment of the power value chain even when other segments had been privatized. It explained that currently, the federal government is investing and supporting efforts to make TCN a world-class transmission service provider.
“The Federal Government under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari focuses on upgrading, stabilising and modernising Nigeria’s power industry through various interventions, including the Nigeria-Siemens partnership under the Presidential Power Initiative (PPI).”
