The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has raised alarm over the overwhelming burden of ground rent demands dating back to the 1970s, amounting to over N600 billion.
Managing Director Sule Abdulaziz brought this to the attention of the House of Representatives Committee on Power in Abuja on Monday.
“We have a lot of letters from almost all the 36 governors demanding for ground rent of our substations. And these ground rents have been coming since the 70s. And that time there was no TCN; they will calculate everything and send TCN. What we have now is over N600bn, which TCN cannot pay,” he explained.
Abdulaziz revealed that TCN has been inundated with letters from state governors demanding payment for substations built on their land. He emphasized that TCN cannot afford to pay this massive amount.
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The TCN boss also highlighted other challenges facing the company, including:
– Payment of compensation for transmission lines’ Right of Way
– Manual operations and aging equipment
– Vandalization of transmission infrastructure
– Financial issues due to non-payment of debts by distribution companies
– Lack of modern tools like helicopters and drones for surveillance
– Delayed counterpart funding from the Federal Ministry of Finance
– Value Added Tax enforcement on offshore equipment, hindering project progress
To address these challenges, Abdulaziz urged the government to:
– Provide funds for critical projects and Right of Way acquisition
– Automate TCN’s operations
– Deploy helicopters and drones to combat vandalism
– Expedite payment of counterpart funds
– Grant a Value Added Tax waiver on power equipment
The TCN’s plea for help comes as the company struggles to maintain and upgrade Nigeria’s transmission infrastructure, essential for reliable power supply.
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