Says national consensus needed to clip vested interest
Admin l Wednesday, December 28, 2022
LAGOS, Nigeria – Former Managing Director of Transmission Company of Nigeria, TCN, Dr. Usman Muhammed has said that the leading Presidential candidates for the 2023 general elections do not have what it takes to tackle crisis in the power sector.
Muhammed who was speaking on Channels TV said that two of the leading candidates have sent him their manifestoes for review adding that the documents lacked what it will take to tackle problems in the power sector.
He said that to succeed in solving problems in the sector, the next president must be the champion of power with adequate knowledge of what it will take to solve the problem to succeed before getting into office to be able to ward off of pressure from vested interests.
He said a president who lacked knowledge of the power sector and what to do will achieve nothing since he will succumb easily to pressure from vested interests.
According to him, companies with requisite knowledge with huge balance sheets will be needed and that Nigeria must be bold enough to take decisive actions to tackle the problems.
He said it is impossible for any individual to say he will raise transmission from 4,000 megawatts to 20,000 megawatts in four years adding that the feet has never been achieved anywhere in history, stressing that investment in the power sector achieves growth over time.
He said that power generation has not been able to attract investment from the outside due to mismanagement of the sector. He sighted bloating of directors in the board as some of the issues.
He said that as MD, he was able to work on staff welfare, which he said motivated staff to install various substations across the nation.
He said that the problem in the sector will however require national consensus and that it transcends any party to be able to solve the problems in the sector and that Siemens alone will not be the messiah to the sector and he challenged them to tell Nigerians how they hope to achieve what they have in the plans.
