The Minister of Power, Chinedu Nebo has charged the new leadership of TCN to work towards transforming the organization into a world – class institution to ensure efficiency and prompt service delivery.
He made the call recently in Abuja at the inauguration of Ibrahim Dahiru Waziri as the new Chairman of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), adding that the new he should implore his vast experience in energy, financial management and politics to the power sector, specifically the TCN.
The Minister charged the new Chairman to observe the vastness of his responsibility as the head of TCN which has been a subject of public discourse in recent times as critical to the success of the power sector and the transformation agenda of President Jonathan.
While rolling out the tasks to be undertaken by the new board, the Minister noted that structural, financial and managerial issues have stunted the efficiency and proper performance of the TCN, needing removal. He also identified with concern, the rising incidences of system collapse, high transmission loss factor, low rate of project delivery and imprudent financial management as drawbacks of the organization.
The Minister further expressed concern for the commercial aspect of its activities; saying some of the decisions made by TCN have lacked sound business approach. He added that there has been a general malaise towards the public ownership initiative. He also explained to the new Chairman that the review process of the management contract entered into with the Manitoba Hydro International of Canada has commenced.
Chinedu Nebo tasked the new management to take the services rendered by the sector as curious rather than business as usual, to add value to all the projects to be engaged. According to him, Nigerians are not ready to accept excuses for letdown as they are in need of uninterrupted power supply.
In his goodwill message, the Director – General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises, Benjamin Dikki, challenged the new head of TCN to accept the responsibility with determination and intent to make a difference. He remarked that as a former classmate, he has no doubt that the new Chairman will succeed in his new assignment.
Also speaking, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Power, Philip Aduda called for thorough reform in the TCN, noting that it would not be bundled up as the PHCN was done. “The Nigerianisation of TCN is now and the situation where foreign partners completely shut out Nigerians who are expected to understudy them should change,” he said. He expressed optimism that the new Chairman will afford to change the circumstance of the organization using his expertise in the oil and gas industry.
On his part, the Chairman of the House Committee on Power, Patrick Ikhariale referring the new board to the constitutional lapses in funding, stated that despite the relevance of transmission services in the Nigerian society, the subsector has not been accorded any priority attention. He therefore called for a new order towards prioritizing TCN as a mainstream stakeholder between generation and distribution.
The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Power, Godknows Igali while presenting the new Board Chairman described his coming on board as a generational change. He averred that Ibrahim Dahiru Waziri is capable of transferring his profound experience spanning 32 years of service to the TCN.
The new Board Chairman, Ibrahim Dahiru Waziri during his acceptance speech at the occasion described the power sector as the pivot on which the Nigerian economic growth revolves.
Federal Government of Nigeria Press Release
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