The Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) has criticised the Federal Government’s intention to reform the Nigerian Transmission Company (TCN).
The union expressed its displeasure in a statement issued by its president, Joe Ajaero, on Wednesday, saying such action might bode doom for the Power sector.
The Federal Government, through the BPE, has announced plans to sell 40% of the government’s stake in energy distribution businesses in the capital market in 2024.
“It portends great danger to the Power sector and holds great fear and trepidation for major stakeholders within the Power sector. It imperils the ability of the state to control, regulate and guarantee the safety of the nation’s grid system at all times,” Ajaero wrote in part.
According to Ajaero, the restructuring plan is an attempt to give the elites control of the company.
“We want to quickly say that the idea behind the so-called plans to restructure is the same big grammar that was spoken before and during the failed privatisation exercise of the sector. They are the same stories that Nigerians have heard over the years which have largely yielded no significant results except the increased suffering that the exercise became for Nigerian people and the economy.”
“The main motive behind the plans for the proposed restructuring is none other than to prepare the TCN for eventual takeover by the cronies and lackeys of the ruling elite,” he said.
Ajaero also detailed that President Bola Tinubu was on course to repeat what he termed as the same mistake the previous government had embarked on.
“NLC believes that the President is making the same mistake previous administrations have made with the policy direction his Minister of power is trying to follow in seeking to unbundle TCN for privatization. We had thought that the President would have convened a genuine national stakeholders’ forum to critically review the Privatisation exercise in the sector which the government itself agrees has failed to attain any of its major objectives rather than seeking to embark on another exercise that would bring more crisis to the Power sector.”
“The disaster that will befall the nation’s power sector will be multidimensional. The quest to ultimately hand over the Transmission infrastructure would expose the nation to blackmail and weaken the ability of the sector to transmit and distribute power around the country. Privatizing it will create the same crisis prevailing within the DISCOs and GENCOs and will impact the quality-of-service deliverance by the Power sector to Nigerians.”
He also said, “The consequences of what the government wants to do especially at a time when Nigeria is today leading other countries as headquarters of nations suffering from Power poverty will worsen the predicament of the nation’s Power sector. Its attendant macroeconomic implications for our nations are huge and will worsen the already bad socioeconomic situation in our nation.”
“Nigeria’s economy would be worse in the next 10 years if a conscious power policy devoid of undue influence by neoliberal economic apologists is not designed. We need to wean not only our power sector but our entire economy from the apron strings of the forces of capitalism and its philosophical foundations if we are to make real progress as a nation.”
“It is important that we learn from the mistakes of the past so that its errors are not repeated and the same consequences befall our nation again. If care is not taken, this may be another hope betrayed!.”