Two power companies owned by Professor Barth Nnaji, former Minister of Power, take on the Bureau of Public Enterprises in a tussle that threatens the ongoing privatisation of the power sector
In what is yet the strongest indication of his administration’s determination to see the ongoing privatisation of the power industry through, President Goodluck Jonathan, in April, signed agreements with successful bidders for 11 distribution and six generation companies unbundled from Power Holding Company of Nigeria, PHCN. At the landmark event, Interstate Electrics Consortium, one of the companies that submitted bids, emerged as the successful bidder for the Enugu Distribution Company. Distribution companies, DISCOs, are responsible for delivering electricity to end-users and collecting payment.
If eventually, Enugu DISCO is handed over to it, Interstate will be responsible for distributing electricity in the 14 business units across the five South-East states of Enugu, Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi and Imo. This was expressly stated in the information Memorandum on Enugu DISCO issued by the Bureau of Public Enterprises, BPE, to all pre-qualified investors on 1 November 2012. But even before it formally takes over the company, Interstate is locked in a battle over the extent of the control it will have in Enugu DISCO. The investor has applied to be joined as a party in the suit filed against BPE by Geometric Power Aba Limited to contest the complete sale of Enugu DISCO in a move that threatens to take the wheels off the entire privatisation programme.
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