By Efe Ebelo Snr. Correspondent, Abuja
It has been revealed that the delay by Manitoba Hydro of Canada, the company that won the management contract for Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), in taking off is attributed to the non-issuance of appointment letters to members of the Governing Board of TCN by the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Ayim Pius Ayim.
Indeed, the management contract is yet to be activated following government’s reluctance to hand a schedule of delegated authority to Manitoba to enable it take over full control of TCN.
The management of the TCN was contracted to Manitoba Hydro at the sum of $23 million for a period of three years, and was supposed to have commenced on September 1, 2012.
But Sunday Independent gathered from a reliable source that the inability of the company to commence full operation was not due to any problems with the Bureau for Public Enterprise (BPE), but due to bottlenecks from the Office of the SGF.
“A Board has been put in place by the Federal Government, but since the names were not announced, no one knows the people that would constitute the board until they are given letters by the Office of the SGF, which has not been done up till this moment.
“Everyone knows the contract has been approved but Manitoba has not fully commenced work. There were issues with Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) staff, but all that has been resolved now. The only issue now is the formal constitution of the board that would oversee the execution of the contract,” the source said.
However, a source in the Office of the SGF said Ayim was in a meeting and that he (Ayim) is the most appropriate person to speak on Manitoba.
The Manitoba contract was signed in July 2012 and, out of the entire contract sum of $23 million, $2.5 million was paid to Manitoba for which they provided an advance payment cover guarantee and the contract is to run for three years in the first instance.
Key objectives of the management contract is sensitisation of the grid, to reduce electricity losses during transmission, provide for the achievement of certain predetermined targets hat would improve grid security and general performance, culture change and staff orientation and instituting reward and penalty clauses as incentives for success.
Other objectives, she said, are to provide efficient management of government investments, to ensure adequate and equitable generation dispatch according to a fair merit order based on sound regulatory principles, to ensure fair market settlements between electricity traders and provide for skills and expertise transfer to Nigerian counterparts who will serve in deputy and other positions to the management staff of the management contractor.
With the signing of the agreement, the management contractor was expected to mobilise and resume on Monday July 26, 2012 with all the eight key personnel and the associated support staff.
But that did not happen, as the Federal Government late last year cancelled the contract, citing breach of procurement rules, and restoring it again.
Only recently, Manitoba had been stripped of its power to control human resource and finance at the company, contrary to the provisions of the management contract, following strong opposition by the workers of the TCN and the PHCN.
The Chief Executive Officer sent to TCN by Manitoba, Mr. Don Priestman, had confirmed that the Federal Government was yet to issue the Canadian firm the Delegated Authority it required to work.
DailyIndependent
It has been revealed that the delay by Manitoba Hydro of Canada, the company that won the management contract for Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), in taking off is attributed to the non-issuance of appointment letters to members of the Governing Board of TCN by the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Ayim Pius Ayim.
Indeed, the management contract is yet to be activated following government’s reluctance to hand a schedule of delegated authority to Manitoba to enable it take over full control of TCN.
The management of the TCN was contracted to Manitoba Hydro at the sum of $23 million for a period of three years, and was supposed to have commenced on September 1, 2012.
But Sunday Independent gathered from a reliable source that the inability of the company to commence full operation was not due to any problems with the Bureau for Public Enterprise (BPE), but due to bottlenecks from the Office of the SGF.
“A Board has been put in place by the Federal Government, but since the names were not announced, no one knows the people that would constitute the board until they are given letters by the Office of the SGF, which has not been done up till this moment.
“Everyone knows the contract has been approved but Manitoba has not fully commenced work. There were issues with Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) staff, but all that has been resolved now. The only issue now is the formal constitution of the board that would oversee the execution of the contract,” the source said.
However, a source in the Office of the SGF said Ayim was in a meeting and that he (Ayim) is the most appropriate person to speak on Manitoba.
The Manitoba contract was signed in July 2012 and, out of the entire contract sum of $23 million, $2.5 million was paid to Manitoba for which they provided an advance payment cover guarantee and the contract is to run for three years in the first instance.
Key objectives of the management contract is sensitisation of the grid, to reduce electricity losses during transmission, provide for the achievement of certain predetermined targets hat would improve grid security and general performance, culture change and staff orientation and instituting reward and penalty clauses as incentives for success.
Other objectives, she said, are to provide efficient management of government investments, to ensure adequate and equitable generation dispatch according to a fair merit order based on sound regulatory principles, to ensure fair market settlements between electricity traders and provide for skills and expertise transfer to Nigerian counterparts who will serve in deputy and other positions to the management staff of the management contractor.
With the signing of the agreement, the management contractor was expected to mobilise and resume on Monday July 26, 2012 with all the eight key personnel and the associated support staff.
But that did not happen, as the Federal Government late last year cancelled the contract, citing breach of procurement rules, and restoring it again.
Only recently, Manitoba had been stripped of its power to control human resource and finance at the company, contrary to the provisions of the management contract, following strong opposition by the workers of the TCN and the PHCN.
The Chief Executive Officer sent to TCN by Manitoba, Mr. Don Priestman, had confirmed that the Federal Government was yet to issue the Canadian firm the Delegated Authority it required to work.
DailyIndependent
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