New Telegraph

36 investors move to buy Nigeria’s power plants

  • No going back on planned sale –FG

 

  • Electricity workers threaten strike over TCN

 

The Federal Government, through the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), has reassured prospective buyers that the National Integrated Power Plants (NIPPs) put up for sale will go on as planned.

 

The agency said the decision  to go on with the sale was in line with the President Muhammadu Buhari administration’s resolve to resuscitate the plants in order to put them to full use.

 

The reassurance came just as electricity workers under the aegis of National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) are warming up to resume their suspend strike over plans to also privatise Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN).

 

A BPE statement issued in Abuja on Monday quoted its Director-General, Mr. Alex A. Okoh, as saying that the privatisation of the five NIPPs was in line with the Bureau’s 2021 workplan as approved by the National Council on Privatisation (NCP), which would be strictly adhered to.

 

The five plants are Benin Generation Company Limited at Ihovba, Edo State, Calabar Generation Company Limited, Cross River State, Geregu Generation Company Limited, Kogi State, Olorunsogo Generation Company Limited, Ogun State and Omotosho Generation Company Limited, Ondo State.

 

Okoh said based on the approval of the NCP, the bureau engaged the services of a technical adviser and advertised for the Expression of Interest (EOI) in three national dailies on Thursday, May 6, 2021 from which the bureau had received 36 EOIs as at the close of the advertised period for the preparation of the EOIs.

 

He added that the Evaluation Committee constituted by the management of the bureau, which also includes nominees of the NDPHC, was trained by the adviser on Tuesday, June 29, 2021 and commenced work immediately on June 30, 2021, adding that it would soon present its report to the management and subsequently to the Technical Committee of the National Council on Privatisation for approval.

 

Giving the background to the privatisation process of the plants, Okoh said the initial process was for the 10 NIPPs, which commenced in 2012 and that by November 2013 bidders had submitted technical and financials proposals for their privatisation.

 

“In the Request for Proposal (RfP), the bidders were informed that they would be required to pay the full purchase consideration for the acquisition of 80 per cent equity in the NIPP generation companies,” he stated, adding that an approval was given through the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) in February 2016 to proceed with a phased implementation of the programme by negotiating with the preferred bidders of the four (4) NIPP generation companies with the least challenges.

However, the Director General noted that the transaction was eventually stalled largely due to the liquidity challenges in the power sector, amongst other factors.

 

Meanwhile, NUEE) has threatened to resume its industrial action over proposed sale of TCN, saying that the process will lead to collapse of power sector. In a statement issued to newsmen and signed by the General Secretary of the union, Joe Ajaero, the electricity workers expressed shock over the planned sale as reported in one of the dailies.

 

The union said the statement served as notice to Nigerians that the union would resume its suspended industrial action for the non-implementation of agreements reached in the meetings brokered by the leadership of the House of L-R: Former Governor of Oyo State, Otunba Adebayo Akala, in a warm handshake with Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Chief Sunday Dare while All Progressives Congress (APC) chairman in Oyo state, Chief Akin Oke and former Minister of Communications, Chief Adebayo Shittu look on at the APC stakeholders meeting in Ibadan… yesterday. Representatives and Ministry of Labour.

 

According to the statement, “it is embarrassing to say the least that anybody in the name of privatisation will contemplate the continued disposal of critical national economic assets to private corporate organisations that act as fronts for a few that have benefited immensely from the whole process since November 1, 2013 to the detriment of Nigerian masses.

 

“Three key officers of the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC)- GM (Engineering), GM (Enforcement) and GM (Public Affairs) are working with a few ‘hawks’ in the Ministry of Power, who do not understand the concept in power generation, transmission and distribution to carry out their selfish personal privatisation agenda and milk the nation off its vital economic assets.

 

They have gathered to call a dog a bad name just to hang it. “The ‘hawks‘ had once deceived this country to grant about N1.5trillion to same characters it sold its distribution and generation facilities at a ridiculous rate of about N400 billion.”

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