‘It’ll weaken transmission capacity’ — NLC frowns on proposed TCN restructuring

The Nigeria Labour Congress says the proposed plan by the federal government to restructure the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) may yield regrettable consequences for the sector.

The federal government had disclosed plans to restructure the TCN to align with the Electricity Act of 2023 and the industry’s demands.

The Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) also said it would sell off 40 percent shares of the government in electricity distribution companies on the capital market in 2024.

In a communiqué signed by Joe Ajaero, the president of NLC, the association said the proposed privatisation plan of TCN would bring “great danger” to the power sector.

“The intended power sector policies would create the same mistakes past administrations made and it would create deeper consequences if power sector policies were not reversed by the federal government,” he said.

“It imperils the ability of the state to control, always regulate and guarantee the safety of the nation’s grid system.”

The same stories, the NLC president said, that Nigerians have heard over the years have largely yielded no significant results — except for increased difficulties for Nigerians and the economy.

He said the proposed restructuring is intended to prepare the TCN for ultimate takeover by the ruling elite’s “cronies and lackeys”.

“NLC believes that the President is making the same mistake previous administrations have made with the policy direction his Minister of power is trying to follow in seeking to unbundle TCN for privatisation,” he said.

Ajaero said the NLC had expected President Bola Tinubu to host a genuine national stakeholders’ conference to critically assess the privatisation exercise in the sector.

He argued that the quest to ultimately hand over the transmission infrastructure would expose the nation to “blackmails and weaken the ability of the sector to transmit and distribute power around the country”.

“Privatising it will create the same crisis prevailing within the Discos and Gencos and will impact the quality-of-service deliverance by the Power sector to Nigerians,” he said. 

“We protested against a nation that was hell-bent on committing suicide in the power sector 10 years ago, alongside the consequences that privatisation exercise was going to be for the power sector and for Nigerians, but it was not heeded.”

According to the NLC president, Nigerians have witnessed “a 500 percent” tariff increase, yet there is no improvement in services.