No plan to privatise TCN — Minister

The Minister of Power, Mr Abubakar Aliyu says there is no plan to privatise the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN).

Aliyu urged members of the public to disregard rumours on the issue.

This is contained in a statement issued by Malam Isa Sanusi, the Special Assistant (Media) to the Minister in Abuja on Wednesday.

According to the Minister,  the Federal Government has no plan to sell or privatise TCN and no one in the government has made a statement of an intent to sell the company.

He said that TCN was a centrepiece in the Federal Government’s efforts to rejuvenate the power sector.

Aliyu said that the Ministry of power was working with key stakeholders to evaluate, assess and upgrade the company to make it more efficient and transparent.

“As part of the repositioning of TCN, job opportunities are being created, as with the recently concluded ramp up of employment, contrary to claims that there is a plan for mass disengagement of staff at the company.

“The organisation has also been carrying out sustained capacity building by training and retraining of staff across all cadre for efficiency and service delivery.

“Transmission is a vital segment of the electricity value chain that constantly needs significant investment,” he said.

According to him, the government of Nigeria maintains the transmission segment of the power value chain even when other segments have been privatised.

He said that currently, the Federal Government was investing and supporting efforts to make TCN a world-class transmission service provider.

Aliyu said that the Federal Government under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari was focused on upgrading, stabilising and modernising Nigeria’s power industry.

He said that these innovations were being done through various interventions, including the Nigeria-Siemens partnership under the Presidential Power Initiative (PPI).