Report says the Federal Government is preparing to sell the Transmission Company of Nigeria.
The new move follows stalled talks between the Federal Government and the National Union of Electricity Employees, which has threatened to shut down the economy.
On Thursday, a source close to the matter told The PUNCH, on the condition of anonymity, that talks to resolve pending disputes between workers and the Federal Government had hit snags and were “currently not yielding the desired results.”
“The Federal Government is quietly negotiating with buyers to sell the TCN. The process will be announced soon,” the source had said.
For the second time, workers have threatened to shut down the national grid due to unmet Federal Government demands.
While briefing newsmen in Kaduna on Thursday, NUEE’s Zonal Organising Secretary, North-West, Comrade Dukat Ayuba, explained that while negotiations were still ongoing, the group would embark on a new strike.
He termed the privatization process a sham.
He added, “That was why we kicked against privitasing 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.”
According to him, investors were still using obsolete equipment dating back 35, 40, and 50 years, stating that one would expect that with their coming, they would replace the obsolete equipment but nothing had been done.
He regretted that the nation still generated 5,000 megawatts of electricity, saying that it was the same old 5,000 megawatts, with no benefit from privatisation.
General Secretary, NUEE, Joe Ajaero, confirmed Saturday PUNCH findings about stalled negotiations. He told our correspondence 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.
