The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has vehemently denied the report by Daily Post claiming that electricity workers have shut down the national power grid. Daily Post had earlier stated that Ndidi Mbah, the spokesperson for TCN, confirmed the shutdown in compliance with the declared indefinite strike by organized labour unions.
In response to the report, TCN issued a statement describing the information of a national blackout as false and misleading. The company clarified that Ndidi Mbah never made any comments regarding a shutdown of the national grid.
The TCN’s official statement reads, “The Transmission Company of Nigeria hereby states that the publication by Daily Post alleging that the Head of Public Affairs of TCN said that there will be a national blackout is false and totally misleading. The statement is mischievous and baseless as TCN, through the Public Affairs Head, did not make such statement.”
The statement further emphasized that the nation’s grid is intact and continues to supply bulk electricity to distribution load centers across the country. The TCN National Control Centre Osogbo, responsible for controlling bulk power transmission nationwide, is reported to be actively operational at the time of issuing the statement.
This development comes amidst the nationwide strike initiated by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), the Trade Union Congress (TUC), and affiliates, including the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU). The strike, which began on Tuesday, defies a restraining court order issued by the National Industrial Court in Abuja, which attempted to prevent the labour unions from embarking on the industrial action. The strike was declared in protest of the brutalization of NLC President Joe Ajaero in Imo State on November 1, despite legal constraints.
