By Abba zayyan Muazu Hassan
It is indeed unfortunate that what used to be left in the dark is now shamelessly displayed with vigor by some Nigerians who wrongly believe that they are better deserving of some federal appointments than other Nigerians simply because their tribesman is the president.
The issue that has to do with giving all Nigerians equal opportunities, irrespective of their tribe or religion, embedded in the popular concept of Federal Character is now reduced to rubbles.
Even as some groups and individuals pretend to be meaning well with protesting against the appointment of Dr Sule Ahmed Abdulaziz, as the Managing Director/CEO of the Transition Company of Nigeria (TCN), it is clear that they only reject him for not belonging to their tribe.
Despite the legal provision that gives the President of Nigeria the authority to approve, appoint, or renew the tenure of the TCN MD/CEO, sentiments have led to openly challenging the recent appointment of Abdulaziz by the presidency.
A group, Arise O Compatriot Initiative, was soon to be set up with the auspices of advocating for accountability within the countries power sector, and is now measuring it's strength challenging the reappointment of Abdulaziz by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
To even display how emotional it has become, the group has given a seven-day ultimatum demanding the reversal of the reappointment of Engr. Sule Abdulaziz as the Managing Director of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN).
Specifically, the group expressed concern over the reappointment of key members of TCN’s management team, citing ongoing grid instability and unsatisfactory performance.
However, it is clear that that the team they are challenging only transmits power to Nigerians and not generate. Because the sector is broken into three parts of generation called GenCos, transmission called TCN and the Distribution called the DisCos.
The job of generating electricity solely lies with the GenCos, that include the private sectors involved, while TCN only manages the grid and what is produced by the GenCos and the DisCos, made up of private investors engage in distributing the product.
These socalled compatriots are attacking the wrong person who they wrongly depict as not performing well simply because of where he comes from.
Adeniran Taiwo that heads the Arise o Compatriots had issued a statement even threatening peaceful protest if the reappointment is not reversed within an ultimatum of seven days.
According to the statement, the reappointment of the affected officials was carried out without due process, including the absence of a public performance audit, stakeholder engagement, or legislative scrutiny.
“Nigerians have again witnessed the quiet reappointment of key members of TCN’s management team whose tenure coincided with some of the worst grid instability in recent years. This is not merely a personnel issue; it is a governance issue" he claims.
But the personality involved, in person of Dr. Sule Ahmed Abdulaziz, is actually qualified for the job as does anybody the Compatriots want to replace him with.
He was confirmed on the 4th of April 2022 as the MD CEO of the Transmission Company of Nigeria.
Prior to his confirmation as the substantive MD/CEO of TCN, he was the Acting MD/CEO from the 19th of May 2020.
In 2016, he was promoted to General Manager, Projects, he had previously worked as the Regional Transmission Manager (RTM) for Shiroro Region in 2019 and in 2020 he was the RTM Abuja Region.
Engr. Dr. Sule Ahmed Abdulaziz joined the defunct National Electric Power Authority (NEPA) in 1996 as Manager, Electrical, and rose through the ranks to become Senior Manager, Projects, and subsequently the Principal Manager (PM), Projects in the defunct Power Holding Company (PHCN). He was in charge of, and supervising various project sites nationwide.
In 2013, Engr. Abdulaziz was promoted to Assistant General Manager, Technical Audit in charge of valuation and vetting of all technical jobs executed by contractors among others in the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN).
In 2014, he was moved back to projects department as the Assistant General Manager, Substation Projects, working as projects' director for all TCN’s substations projects which includes general supervision, defining project parameters and ensuring compliance with specifications and timelines.
As Assistant General Manager, Projects, he ensured the successful completion and energizing of various transmission substation and transformer projects including Kukwaba in Abuja, Maiduguri Substation in Borno, Odogunyan Substation in Lagos State and Okpella Substation in Edo State, among others.
This is a person that had grown through the system to the level he now is that is being challenged by the socalled compatriots.
He holds a Master of Science (MSc) in Electronics and Automation Engineering from The Technical University, Sofia, Bulgaria and is a fellow of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), Fellow of the NIPE, a registered engineer with the Council for the Regulations of Engineering (COREN) and a Chartered Member of Nigeria Institute of Management (NIM).
Engr. Abudulaziz has attended several local and international engineering, technical, administrative and managerial courses.
What other qualifications are they seeking for, why the sentiments?
Zayyana is public commentator and General Manager KTTV katsina
