Labour: Breaking Up TCN Risks Power Sector, National Security
Workers in the power sector have raised the alarm over the planned unbundling of the Transmission Company of Nigeria, TCN, by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC. They warned that it would not only crumble the sector, but threaten national security.
Under the umbrella of the National Union of Electricity Employees, NUEE, called on the National Assembly, NASS, and Nigerians to resist the planned unbundling to save the nation from the imminent collapse of the power sector and avoid putting the nation’s security in danger.
In a petition to the Minister of Power, NUEE’s Acting General Secretary, Dominic Igwebike, among others, said: “We are alarmed by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, planned unbundling of the Transmission Company of Nigeria, TCN, as reported in the press release of May 1, 2024.
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“Following the recent directive on the above subject, it is imperative to analyse the situation with its attendant consequences on the nation’s electricity supply industry.
“As a stakeholder in the sector, we express our dismay over the hasty decision to restructure the sub-sector, and the scheme to prepare it for eventual privatization.
“Regrettably, the sector had been plunged into murky waters of unproductivity with its previous deregulation, hence, the decision to embark on another round of the exercise is, to say the least, disastrous.
“It is embarrassing to say that anybody in the name of privatization will contemplate the continued disposal of critical national economic assets to private corporate organizations, who act as fronts for a few that have benefited immensely from the whole process since November 1, 2013, to the detriment of Nigerian masses.
“Almost 11 years after the privatization of the power sector, there has not been any visible improvement in terms of power supply, expansion, or investments by the new owners of the DisCos and GenCos.
“This position has enjoyed wide attestation by Nigerians up to the National Assembly.
Source: Vanguard
