By Priye Briggs
The Coordinator of the Southern Nigeria Youth Leaders and Stakeholders Forum (SNYLSF), Hon. Luke Jacob, has urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to disregard a recent call by the Visionary Leaders Forum of Nigeria (VFLN) for the removal of Engr. Sule Ahmed Abdulaziz as Managing Director/CEO of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN).
Speaking at a press briefing in Abuja on Friday, Hon. Jacob gave the alleged detractors a seven-day ultimatum to retract their statement.
“I strongly advise this faceless group to immediately retract their malicious statement, concocted to bring a performing public servant to disrepute, or risk being exposed soon. Meanwhile, my organisation is calling on President Tinubu to disregard their shenanigans,” he said.
“We take this position because political detractors are no longer comfortable with the giant strides recorded by TCN under the able and dynamic leadership of Engr. Abdulaziz,” Hon. Jacob added.
TCN was incorporated in November 2005 to unbundle the defunct National Electric Power Authority (NEPA). It received an operational licence from the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) on July 1, 2006, to address years of epileptic power supply.
Engr. Abdulaziz was first appointed TCN MD/CEO on May 19, 2020, confirmed as substantive MD/CEO in April 2022, and reappointed for a second term in April 2026.
As operator and custodian of Nigeria’s transmission grid, TCN is the backbone of the national power system and is tasked with ensuring universal access to electricity.
According to Hon. Jacob, the campaign against Engr. Abdulaziz stems from discomfort with his achievements. He noted that under the current leadership, TCN has remained operationally stable with measurable progress.
This includes increasing the nation’s bulk wheeling capacity from roughly 7,000 MW to 8,700 MW through strategic investments by the Federal Government and development partners.
On March 4, 2025, the national grid also recorded a historic transmission peak of 5,801.84 MW, the highest in Nigeria’s history.
“We have it on good authority that fifth columnists working against President Tinubu’s power sector reforms are targeting his appointees to derail policies aimed at boosting electricity penetration and enhancing national economic growth,” Hon. Jacob said.