…Warns against contract extension
Stories by ANDREW OJIEZEL
LABOUR, under the aegis of the Senior Staff Association of Electricity and Allied Companies (SSAEAC) has petitioned the Federal Government over its contract with Manitoba Hydro International Nigeria Limited (MHINL) for the management of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), citing alleged poor handling of the latter.
In the petition it forwarded to the Presidency, through the office of the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, titled: “ State of Nigerian Power Sector Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) under Foreign Management Contract As Case Study”, SSAEAC alleged that the foreign company had recorded abysmal performance in technical, financial, managerial and administrative areas, in the last one year .
It alleged that eight foreign workers were being paid $ 30 million while Nigerians who are actually doing the work are being paid peanuts. The petitioners further observed that the terms of the contract included incentives payment and tax refunds (among others), without corresponding and commensurate sanctions for non-performance, describing it as a corruption contraption, which should attract probe and sanction all behind it.
SSAEAC alleged that MHINL was manipulating the tenor of the contract to get extensions. It warned government to resist the move, pointing out that the contract falls short of international standard, to run up till this point.
The petition signed by the President of the union, Comrades (Engr) Chris Okonkwo and the General Secretary, Comrade Umar Dubagari, observed that Nigerians do the little that is recorded as success of the contract, as against the outrageously high fees paid to the MHINL for little or no work done.
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The petition read in part: “Recent systems collapses and rising transmission loss factor (TLF) are symptomatic of the failed performance of MHINL. They have come and compounded operational processes such that administrative and payment processes are worse off.
SSAEAC charged FG against extension of their tenor, warning that the contract should not be renewed as MHINL ought to handed-over since May 1, 2016 and should be so directed.
“SSAEAC is also aware of some Nigerian collaborators, in TCN and outside, in the atrocities by MHINL and will expose them soon”
According to Okonkwo, part of the solution is for local management contract and targets for Nigerian professionals in the sector, to save forex, following alleged failure of the so-called management contract in all fronts with lost time and money.
On the proposed or rumoured concessioning of TCN, the union said; “Given the weakness of the power sector and the disarray in the performance of the Gencos and Discos, it will be unwise to break-up the TCN now.
“The argument that TCN is the weak link is self-serving. Today, TCN has wheeling capacity of 6000MW, but maximum generated power to date of 5074MW, although momentarily. TCN is therefore not the problem.”
Towards this end, SSAEAC called on government to establish a technical committee of power professionals, to monitor and enforce technical and non-technical aspects of the sector, with qualified labour representatives, stressing that the committee should have the role of providing government untainted technical recommendations and enforce them after approval, until the regulatory agencies sit up.