All eyes will be on the new Minister of Power to see how he deals with a collapsing power grid the previous minister failed to deal decisively with.
Nigeria’s electricity grid has collapsed frequently yet the government did not think it urgent enough to inaugurate a board for the grid management company, TCN.
Early this year, the presidency issued a press statement in which it announced the appointment of a board for the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) and which had a highly acclaimed technocrat M.K Ahmad as chairman. The board’s primary goal had been to stabilise the grid and then expand it.
However, the plan to inaugurate the board was locked up in the office of the minister of Power who is hiding under the cover of a plan to unbundle TCN.
Nothing emerged in relation to the unbundling plan and in the eight months that have passed, Nigeria has suffered four total collapse of its power grid.
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MK as he is fondly known was the pioneer CEO of the pension commission, which he led with uncommon courage. As of May this year, the value of Nigeria’s pension asset under management had risen to N12.25 trillion after climbing 16.6 percent year-on-year.
The former minister who some said had eyes on the next governorship race for his state, was either too busy or the board was an obstacle to his own narrow interests.
It was on January 22, that the presidency announced that President Buhari had appointed board members for the TCN with MK. Ahmad as the chairman.
The government statement said the board would oversee the selection of a substantive Managing Director of the TCN as well as provide policy directions for the only power utility still owned 100 percent by the government.
Beside Ahmad, the former DG, National Pension Commission (PenCom), who is the chairman, other members of the star-studded board include: Henry Okolo, Imamudden Talba, Usman Sarki, Ali Haruna, Simeone Atakulu, Zubaida Mahey Rasheed, Mustapha Abiodun Akinkunmi,Oladele Amoda, and Nkiru Balonwu.
