A civil society organisation, the National Council for Civil Society Organisations (NACSSO), has criticised calls by some persons for the removal from office of Sule Ahmed Abdulaziz, the managing director of Transmission Company of Nigeria, TCN.

It said the calls were a campaign of calumny by some to tarnish the image of the TCN chief executive.

Following the frequent collapses of the national grid, the TCN DG has been the target of criticism, with some demanding his removal from office.

But in a statement signed by the president of NASCSSO, Comrade Jonny Emmanuel, and made available to journalists in Abuja on Monday, he said the TCN chief executive was doing the utmost to reverse the current power outages, especially in the part of the north.

He said: "Despite all odds, the DG has invested effort in ensuring the stabilisation of the power supply to Nigerian citizens, which was visible until the unfortunate incident of the current grid shutdown in some parts of the North West region of the country.

"In his effort to identify and tackle the problems which emanated from the activities of bandits and insurgents in the troubled region, the DG had collaborated with the Army and has been on his toes to ensure restoration of power for the betterment of our teeming citizens."

"While we call on our citizens to be patient on the ongoing problems with the power sector, we urge them to also refrain from being used as agents of anti-progressive initiatives of selected individuals who choose to become tools in the hands of politicians for personal gains."

The group said the TCN leadership had been doing a good job and should get a vote of confidence instead of criticisms.