IBB, Abdulsalami, Tinubu Lead Bid Battle For PHCN Assets

Two former heads of state, retired Generals Ibrahim Babangida and
Abdulsalami Abubakar, as well as former Governor of Lagos State and
leader of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Senator Ahmed Bola
Tinubu, are the promoters of some of the bidding consortiums contesting
for the 18 companies unbundled from the Power Holding Company of Nigeria
(PHCN),

Also
topping the list of promoters is an oil magnate, Sir Emeka Offor; business mogul, retired Colonel Sani Bello; as well as allies of
Vice-President Namadi Sambo……hmmmm this people had better remain some property for us biko…what type of selfishness is this?…..meanwhile continue to see the full investigation.

North South Power Company Limited,
which is believed to be promoted by Babangida, passed the technical
evaluation for the Shiroro Power Station and would participate in the
financial bid stage.

North South Power Company was the only
consortium that submitted bids for Shiroro, while Dangote Power and
Super Tech belonging to business mogul, Aliko Dangote and Professor
Jerry Gana, respectively, submitted late bids and were automatically
disqualified.

Integrated Electric Nigeria Limited, promoted by
retired General Abubakar as chairman, Mr. Tunde Ayeni and Dr. Shola
Ayandele, is contesting with other bidders for Eko, Ibadan and Yola
Distribution Companies.

However, the chances of the company’s
bids for Eko and Ibadan Discos are slim due to the presence of Oando Gas
and Power, Lagos State Government, Tinubu and Honeywell in the contest.

It was learnt that Integrated Electric has however passed the technical
evaluation for Yola Disco, which is awaiting the approval of the
National Council on Privatisation (NCP).

For Ibadan Disco,
Integrated Electric will compete against Western Consortium, promoted by
Oando Power and Tinubu. Integrated Electric and Western Consortium are
believed to have passed the technical bid stage for Ibadan Distribution
Company, which is awaiting NCP’s approval.

Mainstream Energy
Solutions Limited, supported by Bello, passed the technical evaluation
for Kainji Power Station and is set to participate in the financial bid.

It
also submitted a bid for Jebba Power Station but it is not yet clear if
any of the bidders for Jebba was successful, as there was no
announcement made by the NCP on the status of the technical bids
submitted for the hydro power station.

The Oando Consortium,
believed to be promoted by Oando Gas and Power, Lagos State Government
and Tinubu, is battling with other bidders for Eko and Ikeja
Distribution Companies.

Also in the race for Eko and Ikeja Discos
are: Ampiron Power Distribution Limitedand Honeywell Consortium,
promoted by Mr. Oba Otudeko.

The Lagos State Government, it was
gathered, decided to hedge its bets by also submitting a bid alongside
the Honeywell Consortium, as it is bent on acquiring a stake in the two
Lagos-based distribution assets.

The state government has made it
abundantly clear that whoever wins Eko and Ikeja Discos would have to
deal with it owing to its massive investment in distribution
infrastructure and rural electrification projects over the years.

Meanwhile,
Offor’s Interstate Electric Nigeria Limited is slugging it out with
several other bidders, which include Eastern Electric Nigeria Limited
for Enugu Distribution Company.

It was gathered that there are
30 per cent unalloted shares in the Interstate Electric bid which was
submitted to the Bureau of Public Enterprises, fuelling speculation that
the shares may have been reserved for investors with the financial
muscle to enhance Interstate’s bid for Enugu Disco.

Eastern
Electric, on the other hand, is backed by Time Power Global Dynamics,
believed to be sponsored by Ernest Azudialu’s Nestoil; Nifex Limited;
Aba Power and Geometric Power Limited, which belongs to the former
Minister of Power, Prof. Bart Nnaji; and the governments of Abia,
Anambra, Enugu and Ebonyi States.

It is believed that the refusal
by the Imo State Government to bid under any consortium stemmed from
Governor Rochas Okorocha’s close relationship with Offor.

In the
case of Port Harcourt Distribution Company, Four Power Consortium,
promoted by the governments of Rivers, Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa
States and other private sector bidders, is contesting against Rockson
Engineering, promoted by the owner of Arik Air, Sir Joseph
Arumemi-Johnson.

Southern Electric Distribution Company, which
submitted bids for Benin Distribution Company, indicated that it has the
commitment of the government of Delta State, while Rockson Engineering
indicated that it has a similar commitment from the Edo State
Government.

A top member of the NCP is believed to be behind
Skipper Nigeria Limited, which is bidding for Kaduna Distribution
Company against NAHCO Energy and Power Limited.

However, none of
these bidders was successful, compelling the BPE to come up with three
fresh options, which it intends to submit to NCP, on how to handle the
failed bids for Kaduna Disco.

The first option is to re-advertise
the company to harvest a new batch of expressions of interest from
prospective investors; the second option is to allow those that
submitted late technical and financial bids and were rejected by the BPE
to submit their bids; while the third is to invite other bidders that
lost out at the financial bid stage to submit fresh bids for Kaduna
Disco.

Skipper Nigeria Limited is however believed to have passed
the technical re-evaluation conducted by a new committee set up by the
NCP for Afam Power Station, but is subject to NCP’s approval. Skipper
had slugged it out with NPG Consortium and Primeniza Energy Limited.

The
reconstituted evaluation team comprised officials from the Ministries
of Works and Power, Infrastructure Regulatory Concession Commission and
Bureau of Public Procurement.

Sahelian Energy, which was
pre-qualified for Kano Distribution Company, is promoted by Alhaji
Yusuf, a ministerial nominee of Vice-President Sambo, who did not pass
the security screening.

However, Kepco Consortium, promoted by
Sahara Energy, is still in negotiations with the BPE for the takeover of
Egbin Power Station, subject to NCP and the Federal Government’s
approval.

State governments such as Lagos, the four South-east
and four South-south states are believed to have joined various
consortiums after they were encouraged by the BPE to submit bids for the
distribution assets.

Under the privatisation programme, the
state governments are automatically entitled to two per cent but can get
a maximum of eight per cent through the bidding consortiums due to
their ownership of the right of way in their states and their massive
investment in the distribution and rural electrification network.

It was gathered that another reason the states were encouraged to participate
in the process stemmed from the difficulty in carving out the
distribution network and delineating boundaries in the immediate term,
but this could happen in the future as the market structure evolves.

Also,
there were concerns that it will be difficult to place a value on the
investment by the states in distribution and rural electrification
infrastructure, thus necessitating that they bid for the distribution
assets through the privatisation process.

Meanwhile, electricity
workers under the aegis of the National Union of Electricity Employees
(NUEE) have called for the re-evaluation on the grounds that Nnaji’s
resignation implied that there might have been some undue influence in
the overall management of the privatisation process.

In a letter
to Sambo who doubles as the Chairman of NCP, the union also requested
the report of the valuation of PHCN which puts the assets and
liabilities of the corporation at N200 billion.

It stated that the valuation of a company like PHCN should be transparently done with active participation of all stakeholders.

The
letter signed by the General Secretary of the union, Comrade Joe
Ajaero, advised that persons who are politically vulnerable should not
be allowed to participate in the privatisation exercise.

“To us
it is altruism that the undue influence issue might not have been
restricted to Afam Power Plant and Enugu Electricity Distribution Zone
of PHCN alone, we believe the whole process has been grossly infested by
the menace.

“With all sense of patriotism, we demand also for
the report of the valuation of PHCN assets and liabilities that actually
came up with the current value of PHCN put at N200 billion only.

“The valuation of a company like PHCN should be transparently done with active participation of all stakeholders.

“We
believe that this is the only way credibility and transparency would be
seen to have returned to the whole privatisation process. This will
enhance investors’ confidence and those of the international community,”
the union stated.

via THISDAY