Federal Government To Sell Off Electricity Transmission Company

The Federal Government is reported to be planning to sell off the Transmission Company of Nigeria.

According to Saturday Punch, the fresh move comes on the heels of stalled negotiations between the Federal Government and the National Union of Electricity Employees as the workers threaten to shut down the economy.

A reliable source who preferred anonymity in the news, disclosed that talks to resolve pending disputes between the workers and the Federal Government has hit the rocks, and was “currently not yielding the desired results.”

“The Federal Government is quietly negotiating with buyers to sell the TCN. The process will be announced soon,” the source added.

The workers were said to have, again, threatened to shut down the national grid over unmet demands by the Federal Government.

The Zonal Organising Secretary, North-West, NUEE, Comrade Dukat Ayuba, also told the press in Kaduna that although negotiation was still ongoing, the group would embark on a fresh strike.

He, however, described the privatisation process as a scam.

In his words, “That was why we kicked against privitasing the distribution sector, because the investors don’t have the capacity and expertise. As committed Nigerians, we advised the government against it. But the government was hellbent on doing so.”

He said investors were still operating with obsolete equipment dating back to 35, 40, and 50 years.

He continued that one would expect that with their coming, they would replace the obsolete equipment but nothing had been done.

He lamented that the nation still generated 5,000 megawatts of electricity, saying that it was the same old 5,000 megawatts, with no benefit from privatisation.

Similarly, the General Secretary, NUEE, Joe Ajaero, who confirmed the finding, said no agreement had been reached.

“No agreement yet. They are playing pranks. To compute the money they owe, they said their database is corrupted. Even the meeting of today has been put off,” he said.