07 February 2017, Abuja- The disagreement between the Federal Government and workers of the Transmission Company of Nigeria over the appointment of a new managing director/chief executive officer for the power firm deepened on Monday as the newly appointed CEO, Mr. Usman Mohammed, ordered the immediate suspension of all payments, award of contracts and issuance of local purchase orders by the TCN.
Mohammed’s order was followed by another round of protest by workers of the firm under the aegis of the National Union of Electricity Employees and the Senior Staff Association of Electricity and Allied Companies, who insisted that the new CEO would not gain entry into the office of the managing director.
On Friday, the Permanent Secretary of the power arm of the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Louis Edozien, announced that the Federal Government had approved the secondment of Mohammed as the interim managing director/chief executive officer of the TCN despite protests by the workers against the move a day earlier.
Mohammed, according to the permanent secretary, had already resumed duty as of the time the announcement was made.
But it was observed that Dr. Abubakar Atiku, the former boss of the transmission company, occupied the office of the MD/CEO on Monday despite the supposed resumption of work by the interim boss.
However, in a memorandum to all executive directors and general managers of the Transmission Service Provider and Independent System Operators of the TCN, which was obtained by our correspondent in Abuja on Monday, with reference number TCN/TCEO/01/C.001/Vol.001/2017 and signed by Mohammed on February 3, 2017, he ordered the temporary suspension of payments, award of contracts and issuance of the LPOs.
He said, “Sequel to my assumption of duty on appointment as the Transitional Chief Executive Officer of the TCN, and in view of effecting controls on our payment systems, repositioning the organisation for greater transparency and improved efficiency, you are hereby directed to suspend all payments in all the TCN related accounts with immediate effect.
- Punch