The Federal Government on Tuesday said that the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) had been appointed to manage its planned N72 billion investments in 11 electricity distribution companies (Discos) to upgrade their distribution infrastructure nationwide.
The Managing Director of TCN, Mallam Usman Mohammed, confirmed that the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, had secured government’s approval for the TCN to manage the N72 billion planned investments.
Mohammed, who gave this hint while interacting with journalists in Abuja, said that the company was chosen to manage the investments because it already had a comprehensive systems study and plan on Nigeria’s electricity network and expressed optimism that the investment will improve electricity nationwide.
He said: “Discos have low capacity; investments have not been done in the Discos, and you know it. We have commissioned so many substations; go and find out how many of these have been done by the Discos. That is why we are begging the government and anybody that is willing to listen to us that investments need to go to the Discos.
“We are actually working with the government to see that the last mile which is now the weakest link in the power value chain which is distribution, that investments are directed to that sector.
“In the past the government had not shown interest in putting money in the distribution, but recently the minister of power has approached the government and got it to approve N72 billion which will be invested in the Discos.
“This is one milestone that will help us to also stabilise the grid. It is in our interest that distribution is rehabilitated and I can tell you we lost two transformers in Abuja because of poor distribution. If distribution is not fixed, it will affect us at the TCN. Government is investing in the Discos and it is TCN that is managing the investment. We are managing it on behalf of the minister of power,” Mohammed added.
It would be recalled that the TCN had berated the Discos for their failure to provide stable electricity services to the consumers.
As a strategic option of improving the Discos performance, the minister had advised the entities to upgrade their operations.
