The Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) has dismissed reports that the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) will be put up for sale.
“The news is completely false in all its ramifications,’’ the BPE’s head of public communications, Chidi Ibeh, stated in Abuja on Sunday.
“The story is a mere fabrication by mischief makers aimed at creating room for another needless strike by electricity workers.
“The actions of the federal government in the power sector are guided by well-articulated policy documents and extant legislations,’’ he stated.
The federal government approved the Nigerian Electric Power Policy document in 2001, forming the basis for the enactment of the Nigerian Electricity Power Sector Reform Act (EPSRA) 2005.
The government also announced a roadmap for the reform of the power sector in 2010.
Power generation and distribution were privatized in 2013, leaving transmission under the federal government’s management.
“None of these documents envisaged the privatisation of the TCN,” Mr. Ibeh said.
“This was why a management contract was put in place to reorganise and optimise TCN’s operations during the 2013 privatisation exercise.’’
He added that the government had neither changed its policy nor amended the EPSRA.
