Privatize Transmission Company of Nigeria now, Elumelu cries out
By Eyo Nsima
The Chairman, Heirs Holdings, Mr. Tony Elumelu, has called for the immediate privatization of the Transmission Company of Nigeria, TCN.
The company is currently owned by the Federal Government and has the responsibility to transmit power in Nigeria.
In his interview with Arise Television, monitored by The Daily, www.thedaily-ng.com, he said: “In the area of the transmission line, I think that ultimately, it should be privatised. What some of us have advocated is that the GenCos and the DisCos, the entire power stakeholders should come together and have a deal with the Federal Government, take over the transmission lines, and it will be in our self-interest to make sure it works. If you have the transmission lines and it doesn’t work, there is no way to evacuate your power.
“That sector is so critical and pivotal for the survival of our power sector, it’s critical for improving access to electricity. What is important to us as operators is to have expanded capacity, but I’m sure if you talk to people in the transmission line, they will also give you reasons why they have their own constraints.
“But to us, we want to see massive improvement; we should be able to capacitise that space. I think the Ericsson deal I’m told is able to make that happen, the details of that I don’t know but I’m told it will help to capacitise the transmission line. What I do know is that we need to improve capacity in the area of transmission, and whatever we need to do to make that happen should be done. The time is now because we are all suffering this challenge. At times, the generating plant runs into difficulties because you generate and it can’t be taken, and the power plant can just break down. We don’t need all that frustration in the power sector.
“Whatever it takes to fix that sector, we should do so. Some of us in the power generating space have signified interest to be involved in the transmission so that collectively, we will be able to make it work. But even when that works, we need to make sure that people are metered and they pay.
“The distribution companies should also take what is supplied to them and they pay to NBET who will, in turn, pay the GenCos. So, each of the three critical parts must work well; the generating companies must generate, the transmission company must transmit, and the distribution company must make sure it gets to end users because that’s where people feel the impact of electricity.”
In a document obtained from its website, TCN, stated: “TCN emerged from the defunct National Electric Power Authority (NEPA) as a product of the merger of the Transmission and Operations sectors on April 1, 2004. TCN was incorporated in November 2005. Being one of the 18 unbundled Business Units under the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), TCN was issued a transmission License on 1st July 2006. It was subsequently issued two licenses on June 10, 2013, for electricity transmission and system operations.”
