TCN Boss, Usman Gur Sacked Over N781bn Siemens Power Deal

President Muhammadu Buhari and his new Chief of Staff, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari consented to the removal of the former Managing Director of the Transmission Company of Nigeria, Usman Gur Mohammed, over an alleged $2 billion Siemens Presidential Power Initiative deal, Naija News has learnt.

This online news platform confirmed that the former TCN boss was sacked a few days ago following the document which was signed by the president and the CoS.

Without further delay, the acting MD of TCN, Engr. Sule Ahmed Abdulaziz has been approved to take over the vacant position.

The presidency also in the document which stirred up reactions among concerned individuals authorized the Minister of Power, Engr. Sale Mamman to present members of the Transmission Company of Nigeria board and management team.

However, no letter has been received by the approved persons from the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, to affirm their positions.

Meanwhile, Daily Trust reports that the SGF has issued letters to the approved persons, but reports from the approved individuals noted that no such letters had been delivered to them in that regard.

On his part, the removed TCN boss while interacting with newsmen said, “I have not received any letter to that effect and even the minister has not even called me to convey the removal.”

Naija News also gathered the lock to the sacked TCN boss office has been changed, leaving the former MD with no access to his belongings.

The TCN boss removal saga started following a letter delivered to the desk of the Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari, which labelled the organization’s management as being poor in its operations.

It was reported that Mamman about three months ago addressed a letter to President, requesting for a review of the Transmission Company of Nigeria with the Presidential Power Initiative – Siemens Plan.

Parts of the minister’s statement reads, “Today, TCN is marred by ineffective maintenance and poor system management, which contributes to partial and total system collapses, reflecting the inadequacy in infrastructure. Furthermore, the privatisation exercise has further decoupled transmission from distribution and generation leading to severe infrastructural misalignment that is costing the country about N1 billion a day in system constraints.”

Engr. Mamman stated that for a while now he has been troubled over his relationship with the TCN strategy under the leadership of Usman Gur Mohammed (the ousted MD).

According to the minister, “the former MD had not shown support for the $2bn Siemens deal, and that he had failed to manage the situation with the DisCos on bulk energy dispatch constraints, while there were discordant tunes with the Senior Staff Association of Electricity and Allied Companies (SSAEAC),” Daily Trust reports.

Meanwhile, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), Dabiri-Erewa has alleged that staff of her commission were forcefully evicted from an office complex that was previously allocated to it by the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC).