The The African Development Bank (AfDB) said Thursday night that it has no plans of taking over the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN).
The bank also indicated Nigeria’s federal government was not discussing a fresh $174m loan with it contrary to recent reports.
There have been reports about the Senate faulting plan by the Federal Government to hand over the management of Transmission Company of the loan from the multilateral development finance institution.
Part of the collateral for the loan, the source said, is to hand over the management of TCN to AfDB as well as the deployment of three AfDB staff to manage TCN for six months in the first instance.
But reacting in a statement sent out by Fatimah Abubakar Alkali, its Senior Communications Officer, Nigeria Country Office,.AfDB Nigeria.denied the allegations,adding that
“The African Development Bank (AfDB) approved a US $155 million loan for the Economic and Power Sector Reform Programme (EPSERP) which became effective on 19th October 2012. The support was aimed at improving power systems and the business environment and also sustaining growth through sound macroeconomic policies and budget priorities. The amount was fully disbursed in 2 tranches on 1st March 2013 and 21st December 2015 respectively. The program will benefit the entire population of Nigeria in terms of extended access to a more reliable supply of electricity at improved quality and reduced cost.
The bank said the EPSERP will have a major positive impact on the private sector through the substantial reduction in the cost of doing business for all economic sectors, particularly in the formal and informal manufacturing and service activities which are seriously constrained by the power supply gaps.
“On 19th September 2016 the AfDB received a request from the Federal Government of Nigeria for the release of one of its staff members to serve as interim Chief Executive for 12 months”.
The Bank approved this request to support the Government in its power sector reforms. The staff member has been granted a special leave without pay for 12 months. The African Development Bank is committed to assisting Nigeria achieve the objectives of its reforms in the power sector in accordance with the priorities already approved by the authorities.
“It is to be noted here, that the appointment of the TCN management is a prerogative of the national authorities,” the bank further stressed.
