The appointment of Mr Usman Mohammed as  interim Managing Director of Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN)  is not a condition for a loan facility by the Bank.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Africa Development Bank (AfDB) said it approved a loan of 155 million dollars for Economic and Power Sector Reform Programme (EPSERP) in Nigeria

The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, made this known when he appeared before the Joint Committee on Power on Monday in Abuja.

The minister’s appearance followed a petition written to the Senate by Workers under the aegis of the National Union of Electricity Employees and the Senior Staff Association of Electricity and Allied Companies.

The workers had alleged that due process was not followed in the appointment of Mohammed.

Fashola, however, denied the allegations that the secondment of Mohammed, who works with African Development Bank was a form of collateral for the loan.

He said that Mohammed’s appointment was designed to ensure responsiveness to the needs of generation and distribution companies in Nigeria.

“The appointment of new TCN boss has nothing to do with lack of capacity. It has everything to do with the need to improve.

“The transmission stations is the connectivity of sub stations and need to constantly interlink with themselves, have supervisory control and skills acquisition system that helps them perform optimally.

“The engineers will not be able to do their work if the administrative sector that provides the tools budgeting and planning does not give them the tools to do their work,’’ he said.

The minister further said that there was no reason for concerns by the workers, adding that President Muhammadu Buhari chose to exercise his prerogative to appoint somebody to be managing director.

“Those are the facts. I do not think that somebody who is given such political appointment is a matter that should be equated with the dampening workers morale. (NAN)