Ignoring Labour Threats, FG Replaces Atiku with Mohammed as MD, TCN
The Federal Government has snubbed threats of industrial unrest in Nigeria’s electricity industry by workers of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), and appointed Mr. Usman Gur Mohammed as the new Managing Director of the TCN.
By Mohammed’s appointment as head of TCN, the government effectively relieved its former acting Managing Director, Dr. Abubakar Atiku of his role as the company’s head.
A statement from the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing on Friday in Abuja stated that Mohammed would head the TCN on a 12-month non-renewable basis within which he was expected to reposition the company for the next phase.
The statement was signed by the Permanent Secretary in the power ministry, Mr. Louis Edozien. It came just days after electricity workers union on the platform of the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) and Senior Staff Association of Electricity and Allied Companies (SSAEAC) protested against the decision of the government to replace Atiku.
The unions said they would call out their members against the government if it went ahead to appoint Mohammed to head TCN. According to them, the government was about to welcome a fresh $150 million project funding plus an additional $200 million promissory note from the African Development Bank (AfDB) who are Mohammed’s employers.
They claimed the appointment was skewed in this regard, and that Mohammed was a lackey to some government officials.
However, Edozien in the statement announcing the appointment of Mohammed, stated that Nigeria’s power sector was in transition from a vertically integrated government owned statutory monopoly to an industry in which private and publicly owned companies interact through contracts under the regulation of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).
He noted: “Since 2013 the generation companies who produce the electricity we all consume and the distribution companies who deliver it to our homes, industries and businesses, are now being mainly privately owned companies. TCN, which transmits the electricity from the generation companies to the distribu- tion companies for onward delivery and sale to customers, is currently owned by Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN).”
“In this role TCN operates two important licenses issued by NERC. As the Transmission Services Provider (TSP), TCN owns and operates the 132kV and 330kV high tension transmission lines and the 330/132/33kV substations that make up Nigeria’s national grid.
“As the Independent Systems Operator (ISO), TCN monitors and controls the national grid and when and how the power stations, which are owned by different companies, can supply electricity for delivery to distribution companies in the safe and orderly way. TCN charges the distribution companies for these services.