Contrary to the earlier timeline of the first quarter of 2012 set by the Bureau of Public Enterprises for the completion of the sale of the electricity generation and distribution firms in the country, the Minister of Power, Prof. Bart Nnaji, has said the exercise will be concluded in the second quarter of the year.The minister said in Abuja on Monday that the process of transferring governments equity in 17 of the 18 Power Holding Company of Nigeria successor companies to core investors, workers and state governments would be completed in the second quarter of 2012.We are targeting the completion of the sale by the second quarter of next year, he said, adding that the submission and evaluation of bids for the firms would take place in the first quarter.Nnaji said this in a goodwill message he delivered at the opening of the electric power transaction and industry review conference organised by the BPE.He said that about 331 Expressions of Interest were received for all the 18 successor companies when the BPE called for them.He added that the National Council on Privatisation headed by Vice-President Namadi Sambo had pre-qualified 212 firms to bid for the successor companies.The minister said the companies that showed interest in the firms were from 38 countries which was indicative of the enormous interest that the international community had shown in the power reform process.Nnaji said the present administration recognised the invaluable contributions of the PHCN workers to national development and that was why it had paid N57bn to them as monetised benefits.The benefits, he explained, were denied the workers by successive regimes for seven years.Meanwhile, the Federal Government will resolve all outstanding labour issues before the handover of the successor companies to the Power Holding Company of Nigeria to private investors, the Director-General, Bureau of Public Enterprises, Ms. Bolanle Onagoruwa, has said.Onagoruwa said this at the opening of the two-day Electric Power Sector Transaction and Industry Review Conference organised by the BPE in collaboration with the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission in Abuja on Monday.She said the goal of the privatisation agency was to resolve all labour issues before handing over any of the successor companies to successful bidders.The BPE boss said the Federal Government was concerned about the welfare of PHCN workers, adding that that explained its unceasing engagement with the various unions in the electricity sector.She said, In its desire to be fair and just in resolving the pension liabilities and severances of the workers, a path of negotiations to address this issue has been embarked upon with the unions of PHCN.In the last few months, a series of activities have been embarked upon in the process of the privatisation of the PHCN successor companies, starting with the issuance of bid documents to the recent site visits to the successor companies by investors.It is our wish, in collaboration with bidders, to fast-track the reform agenda and this can only be done if we are provided with your genuine concerns and objective comments so that we can enrich the transaction and ensure its conclusion, the BPE boss added.She said the privatisation of the successor companies was on course and affirmed that it would be taken to its desired conclusion.Onagoruwa noted that given the large investments to be made in power transmission and distribution, the Federal Government could not bear the cost alone.
Click here to read full news..
