By Louis Achi
Leaning on his constitutional discretion, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on April 2, 2026, thoughtfully reappointed Engineer Sule Ahmed Abdulaziz for a second term as Managing Director/CEO of the strategic Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN). It’s obvious that several critical considerations drove this presidential decision with performance assessment at its core. The reappointment took immediate effect.
President Tinubu clearly realizes that cut to the bone, energy and its associated infrastructure remain the key development drivers of both ancient and modern civilisations. Curiously, in the morning of the 21st Century, many Nigerian state actors are blissfully unaware that much of the problems of socio-economic transformation are really complications of physical infrastructure – with energy at the epicenter.
Flowing from this reality, the bold presidential reappointment is fundamentally part of the administration’s broader efforts to stabilize and expand the nation’s power infrastructure. At its core, it aims to sustain the momentum in improving Nigeria’s electricity transmission infrastructure and to address sector challenges.
It’s a given that powerful visions attract ideas, people and other relevant resources. They create the momentum and will to actualize changes. They inspire individuals, complementary organizations and institutions to commit, to persist and to give their best. This is Engr. Abdulaziz’s forte.
Abdulaziz who brings a compelling 30+ years of experience in the power sector will continue these critical reforms, infrastructure upgrade and enhancement of the national grid’s efficiency, indeed a bracing responsibility.
However, trailing this significant reappointment, the naysayers took the field and started mounting attacks against Engr. Abdulaziz and his brief. For good measure, unsubstantiated allegations were tossed in by some elements of the online media.
Some have alleged unproven corruption and pushed their criticism further by even curiously calling for the removal from office of Engr. Abdulaziz, the TCN MD.
What is the beef of these scurrilous allegations essentially targeting reputational damage of the TCN boss. Just recently, an online media newspaper published a report on the current TCN MD alleging he bought an exotic car for the Honorable Minister of Power as a bribe without recourse to due process. But this particular matter has been exhaustively trashed by the management of the TCN that approved the purchase of an official vehicle for the minister as part of the company’s responsibility to ensure the minister’s office effectively carries out its oversight responsibilities and not on the contrary.
According to the Civil Society Groups for Good Governance (CSGGG) which had gone to some length to interrogate the allegations: “We have engaged the management of TCN and it is on record that the MD/CEO is a man that has instilled a standing and verifiable tradition of prudent management of scarce resources to which notable achievements have been recorded and will soon become visible as part of the renewed Hope agenda of the current administration, as the decades of rots in sector cannot be wished away overnight.“
Countering the Civil Society Groups for Good Governance (CSGGG) a group, Arise O Compatriot Initiative, has gone as far as giving a quirky seven-day ultimatum demanding the reversal of the reappointment of Engr. Sule Abdulaziz as the TCN MD.
Specifically, the group also expressed concern over the reappointment of key members of TCN’s management team, citing ongoing grid instability and unsatisfactory performance. In a strongly worded statement trailing the tenure renewal, National Coordinator of the Arise O Compatriot Initiative, Adeniran Taiwo, threatened to mobilise members in a peaceful protest to TCN until the needful is done.
Taiwo lamented that despite years of reforms and substantial financial investments, the country’s electricity sector remains in a deplorable condition.
His words: “After decades of reforms, billions of dollars in investment, and countless promises, the average citizen still measures electricity supply in hours per day, not days per month. Factories run on diesel, small businesses depend on generators, while students read by candlelight.”
Unwittingly betraying some conflict of understanding of the key sector challenges, especially the timelines, the group – Arise O Compatriots Initiative – wrongly attributed the sector’s decay to Engr. Abdulaziz and by inference the President Tinubu administration. Hear them: “After decades of reforms, billions of dollars in investment, and countless promises, the average citizen still measures electricity supply in hours per day, not days per month. Factories run on diesel, small businesses depend on generators, while students read by candlelight.”
Blaming a 36-month-old Tinubu administration and the TCN MDs tenure for “decades of reforms, billions of dollars in investment,” sounds a deliberate distortion of facts and blames.
Beyond the mischievous fog being generated to damage the image of Engr. Abdulaziz, he is recognized for improving grid stability and advancing infrastructure projects, aiming for 20,000–25,000 MW capacity within five years – the administration’s target.
Leveraging continuity, Engr. Abdulaziz continues his leadership of the TCN to maintain momentum in transmission capacity expansion. His tenure renewal is based on improvements in the nation’s transmission network, including reduced grid disturbances and increased substation automation.
Under his leadership, the TCN has been implementing the Northern Corridor Project and developing the Generation Load Drop Sensitivity (GLDS) system to prevent total system failure. The TCN MD also holds a leadership position in the West African Power Pool (WAPP), strengthening regional electricity integration.
As part of the restructured TCN under the Electricity Act 2023, he will continue to lead efforts to improve transmission capacity.
Going forward, a close, objective look at frequent grid collapses in Nigeria will show they are primarily caused by aging, weak infrastructure, inadequate maintenance, and gas supply shortages for power plants. The system often fails due to inadequate spinning reserves to manage sudden drops, high transmission losses and high vandalism of infrastructure.
These factors predate the current TCN managers but puts legitimate pressure on them to transform the quandary. It’s no secret that attacks on pipelines and transmission towers by rampaging terrorists and vandals cause severe instability.
This particular aspect, especially in the North is being engaged by the nation’s security agencies. Also, many transmission lines and substations are over 50 years old and have not been adequately upgraded. This is a core priority for Engr. Abdulaziz-led management.
Load Rejection/DisCo Weakness, a scenario where Distribution Companies (DisCos) often cannot accept the power transmitted to them, causing imbalances is another factor. Another factor is liquidity crisis where a lack of funds for maintenance and debts owed to Generation Companies (GenCos) hinder operational efficiency.
It needs to be appreciated that TCN serves as the critical link between power generation and distribution. This confines its core responsibilities to transmission.
Back tracking, 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. 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.
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.
It’s no secret that today, Nigeria, the world and Africa stand on the brink of substantial disruptions – and of considerable opportunity – as new governance models challenge traditional playbooks. This presents significant opportunity to Engr. Abdulaziz to rise to the occasion and reinvent TCN, a critical wheel in national progression.
With the presidential reaffirmation of belief in his competence to transform the TCN challenges, the ball rests in his court.
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