Privatisation: FG to earn $2.6b from sale of 15 power firms
By the time the new core investors pay the balance for the 15 privatised Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) successor companies, the Federal Government’s coffer is expected to swell by $2.6 billion.
Ambassador Nuhu Audu Bajoga, deputy governor of Kaduna State, who disclosed this on Thursday, noted the high level of transparency displayed by the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) in the various transactions it had handled.
Declaring open a retreat by the BPE to initiate plans to further develop various sectors of the Nigerian economy, he said: “We took you around the world to help Federal Government sell the NIPP power plants.”
Investors for the various power generation and distribution companies are expected to make the balance of 75 per cent payment for the privatized assets on, or before the deadline of September 17, going by the agreed terms.
Bajoga thanked President Goodluck Jonathan and his vice for their resolve and commitment to power sector reform which provided the enabling environments
Also speaking at the event, Chairman, House Committee on Privatisation and Commercialisation, Khadija Bukar Abba-Ibrahim emphasized the need for BPE to collaborate with the National Assembly for accelerated consideration and passage of some critical sector reform bills currently pending, for presentation before the Federal Executive Council.
The bills are: Road Sector Reform Bill, National Transport Commission Bill, Inland Waterways Bill, Ports and Harbor Bill, Postal Sector Reform Bill, Competition and Anti-Trust Bill; and Nigeria Railways Bill.
Abba-Ibrahim noted that the retreat was coming at time the bureau was in the process of concluding many critical transactions with expected huge impact on the nation’s economy.
She urged the BPE to ensure that core investors in the privatized enterprises performed their obligations under various privatization agreements, adding that “Nigerian people will benefit from the programme with little resistance from Ministries Departments and Agencies as well as the labor unions.”
[Daily Independent]