The National Council on Privatisation (NCP) Tuesday, in Abuja, opened the financial bids submitted by investors wishing to acquire the state-owned power generation companies, with foreign-based companies alongside their Nigerian partners emerging as winners of the power assets put up for sale or concession.

Some of the companies that emerged preferred bidders at the end of the exercise were backed by former military president, General Ibrahim Babangida (rtd); Chairman of Forte Oil Plc, Mr. Femi Otedola; Chairman of Transnational Corporation of Nigeria Plc (Trancorp), Mr. Tony Elumelu; former military governor of Kano State, Col. Sanni Bello (rtd); and oil and gas magnate, Mr. Tony Onoh.

Other prominent persons that bid for the power plants included former Chief of General Staff, Vice-Admiral Okhai Akhigbe, and a former senator and retired military officer, Brig. Gen, Tunde Ogbeha.

During the financial bid opening, Transcorp, alongside its partners, offered $300 million to emerge the preferred bidder for the 360 megawatts (mw) Ughelli power plant in Delta State.
Transcorp beat two other bidders, including Feniks Electricity and Amperion Power Distribution Limited, which offered bid prices of $54 million and $252 million respectively.

Both Transcorp and Amperion’s bid prices were, however, said to be above the reserve price, which enabled Amperion to emerge the reserve bidder for the Ughelli plant. The Amperion Group is jointly owned by Israeli-based BSG Resource Limited, State Grid Corporation of China and their local partner, Forte Oil.

Should Transcorp pay for Ughelli, it will be acquiring 100 per cent of the plant.

However, Amperion's $128.52 million as the sole bidder for the 414mw Geregu power plant fell below the reserve price of $132 million to acquire a 51-per-cent stake and was offered the chance to match the reserve price to win the power plant.

Also, CMEC/Eurafric Energy, comprising a Chinese firm and Eurafric, a Nigerian oil and gas firm owned by Tony Onoh, offered $201 million to secure the 120mw Sapele power station, thus defeating its contender JBN-Nestoil (Julius Berger Nigeria Plc-Nestoil), which offered only $80 million initially.

JBN-Nestoil, however, was allowed to revise its bid price to $106.5 million, a figure declared by the NCP to have exceeded the reserve price. By revising its price upwards, JBN-Nestoil automatically emerged the reserve bidder for the Sapele plant.

Meanwhile, Mainstream Energy Solutions Limited, which has ties to Bello, Akhigbe, Ogbeha and Alhaji Ismaila Isa Funtua, Chairman of Bullet Construction Company and patron of the Newspaper Proprietors' Association of Nigeria (NPAN), who is the vice chairman of the consortium, was also the sole bidder for the Kainji-Jebba hydro electricity plants, as Mainstream offered $50,760,665.18 as fixed annual fees for the facility.

The Kainji-Jebba facility, THISDAY learnt, is a 15-year concession and not an outright sale. However, it shall attract a commencement fee of $257 million, which comprises the initial fee and the fixed annual fee.

Also, for the 600mw Shiroro power facility, North-South Power Limited, believed to have the backing of Babangida, offered to manage the firm under a concession for a fixed annual fee of $23,602,484.47 including a commencement fee of $111,654,534.30.

Speaking at the opening of financial bids for the generation assets, the Chairman of the Technical Committee of the NCP, Mr. Atedo Peterside, who has overseen the process, cautioned the jubilant successful companies to be mindful of the fact that their emergence as preferred bidders was still subject to the approval of NCP and that they could still be denied the opportunity of taking over the companies if they failed to pay their fees or if they were found wanting in documentation during post-bid assessment.

He added that the winners should not deem themselves “preferred bidders” yet until confirmation by the NCP and their ability to make a letter of credit or bank guarantee for 15 per cent of the bid amount.

“They will be given 15 business days after the NCP approval to comply and be designated preferred bidder,” he explained.

He said that the power privatisation and reform programme was now at full throttle with the opening of the bid for generation companies (gencos), noting that the power sector in the country has been saddled with insufficient funds and low electricity tariffs.

According to him, the privatisation of the distribution companies (discos) and gencos, besides the introduction of Manitoba as management contractor for the Transmission Company of Nigeria and the strengthening of the fuel to the power segment, would liberate the power sector from the low equilibrium trap.

He observed that if this is done, it “should help unleash long-term private sector investment activity in the country generally,” pointing out that “the electricity sector has segment that are intricately interwoven so in most nations, the pace at which results are achieved by the sector, as a whole, is determined by the weakest link in a complex and inter-dependent chain.”

Peterside concluded that the NCP had done its best to ensure that the genco transactions were accomplished in accordance with internationally accepted standards, stressing that the “NCP raised the qualification bar to ensure that only operators who are technically qualified and financially sound make it to the finishing line”.

In his remarks, Minister of State for Power, Mr. Darius Ishaku, described the successful conclusion of the exercise as a milestone in the history of the country, given the level of transparency attached to the entire selection processes.

Chairman, House Committee on Power, Mr. Patrick Ikhariale, said the event marked "a new dawn and glorious day" for the country as the issue of monopoly, which had been one of the major problems in the power sector, would be rested.

Also, Chairman, Senate Committee on Privatisation, Senator Olugbenga Obadara, commended the exercise, adding that the Senate would intensify its oversight functions to ensure that the new management of the various generation companies are held in trust for Nigerians.

Similarly, the Managing Director of Transcorp, Mr. Obinna Ufudo, who spoke to THISDAY shortly after the bid opening, described his firm’s success as “good news to the development of the Nigerian economy”.
“It is a fantastic opportunity for us and the Nigerian electric power supply situation by bringing private input and resources to this sector,” Uffodo said.

He assured Nigerians that shortly, the country would begin to enjoy the benefits of having steady power supply.
He said: “Transcorp and our partners are very happy to have this opportunity and it is a new dawn for Transcorp and a new dawn for our shareholders and a new beginning for the whole country.”
http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/ibb-otedola-elumelu-backed-groups-win-bids-for-power-plants/126056/

the same old story,the same set of pple buying up our economy.....which way nigeria?

Your leaders steal you dry when they are in government, they neglect public infrastructures and make them desolate. When they get out of office, they spend the same money they stole from you to bid to purchase the same public institutions they neglected while in office, and you all stay there saying Sai Baba. Una mumu too much.