The House of Representatives Committee on Finance has dismissed representatives of the Transmission Company of Nigeria.
TCN reps failed to answer critical questions concerning a take-or-pay agreement with a power Generation Company, Azura Power West Africa Limited, forcing the country to pay the firm $33m monthly whether it supplies power or not.
The committee, at its continued investigative hearing in Abuja on Monday, grilled the Executive Director, Transmission Service Provider, TCN, Victor Adewunmi; Market Operator, TCN, Edmund Eje; Director, Agreements, Benedict Ogbu; and General Manager, Corporate Planning and Strategy.
However, the lawmakers criticized the computation of figures in the written presentation by the TCN management, insisting that the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Sule Abdulaziz, appeared before the panel to answer queries.
A member of the committee, Taiwo Olga, said, “The representative of the chief executive, I will want to put it to you that with this document, you are confusing the House. If it is your document and we are arguing on it, whether it is megawatts or it is in kilowatts, an agreement has been signed on behalf of Nigerians in megawatts. Now, you are presenting documents to the House in kilowatts/hour.
“So, Mr. Chairman, I will want to say that maybe these documents should be re-presented while we expect the chief executive to come and explain to Nigerians why $33m will be paid (to Azura) every month, yet we are not getting results – we are not getting power – and that is the root of all the problems in Nigeria as of today.
“And I want to say in developed countries, can we go into such an agreement on behalf of Nigerians without signing it? Even while signing it, we are not getting the power that is signed (for). I put it to you, you are traveling all over the world.”
