Fg makes move to sell electricity transmission company

According to Saturday PUNCH, the Federal Government is currently preparing to sell the Transmission Company of Nigeria.

The new action follows delayed discussions between the Federal Government and the National Union of Electricity Employees, with the latter threatening to bring the economy to a complete halt.

Under the condition of anonymity, a source close to the situation told The PUNCH on Thursday that negotiations to settle outstanding disagreements between the employees and the Federal Government had reached a brick wall and were "currently not delivering the intended outcomes."

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

Due to the Federal Government's failure to meet their demands, the employees have threatened to shut down the national grid a second time.

While briefing reporters in Kaduna on Thursday, Comrade Dukat Ayuba, the Zonal Organising Secretary for the North-West NUEE, reportedly stated that despite ongoing negotiations, the union would launch a new strike.

He added, “That was why we kicked against privatizing 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He claimed that investors were still using outdated machinery that was 35, 40, and 50 years old and that one would have thought that since they had arrived, the outdated machinery would have been replaced. However, nothing had been done.

He expressed regret that the country continued to produce 5,000 megawatts of power, claiming that it was the same amount as before and had not benefited from privatisation.

Joe Ajaero, general secretary of NUEE, corroborated Saturday PUNCH's findings regarding the impasse in negotiations. He stated in his letter to us that 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.