TCN urges release of its N17b Electricity Facility Fund

The Transmission Company of Nigeria has called for the immediate release of the N17 billion Electricity Facility Fund granted it three years ago by the Federal Government.
Dr. Abubakar Atiku, the TCN Managing Director, made the call during the company’s “Change Management Sensitisation Tour” on Thursday in Lagos.
Represented by Sonny Iroche, the TCN Executive Director, Finance and Account, Atiku explained that the money was TCN’s share of the N213 billion Electricity Facility Fund granted the power sector.
According to him, the fund is to help offset the legacy debts and address the revenue shortfall in the power sector.
Atiku said some distribution and generation companies had received their allocations from the Central Bank of Nigeria, stressing that the non-release of the fund was hampering TCN’s operations.
He said over N45 billion of TCN money for power transmitted was still trapped at CBN because Kaduna and Abuja Electricity Distribution Companies refused to complete necessary paper work.
Atiku said that the change management initiative was expected to affect the company’s processes, work culture and attitudes to achieve peak performance.
“This will invariably impact on achievement of the company’s goals and objectives,” he added.
The TCN boss said that the initiative would be launched across the entire organisation in order to change the mind set of workers towards work and behavioural attitude.
Atiku said: “One of the imperatives of the initiative is the need for change in the business processes and procedures as well as behavioural changes to enable adaption to the fast-changing business environment.
“Repositioning TCN would allow it achieve strategic vision, compete efficiently and thrive in today’s changing landscape in the power sector.”
The TCN boss said that the company had consistently wheeled out adequate energy to distribution companies, some of which lacked capacity to receive the energy transmitted to them.
He said: “Metering of customers remains the best option for distribution companies to recoup their investment adequately, because it is the only way to access consumption.
“We have invested a lot of money to improve on our technology and capacity but tariff was based on power wheeled out.”