Deadline: FG gets $469m from power firm bidders

Twenty-four hours to the expiration of the deadline for the preferred bidders to pay 25 per cent of the bid prices for the successor companies to the Power Holding Company of Nigeria, 11 bidders have so far paid $449.03m for 12 of the companies.

This leaves only three preferred bidders that have yet to pay for the power firms for which they had earlier been selected.

While the bids for 15 of the companies have held, bids for two of the power firms are yet to hold, while the Transmission Company of Nigeria is not slated for sale but management contract.

The Head, Public Communications, Bureau of Public Enterprises, Mr. Chigbo Anichebe, confirmed the receipt of the $449.03m in a statement made available to our correspondent in Abuja on Wednesday.

He had earlier said in a telephone interview that the reserved bidders would be invited to take the place of preferred bidders that failed to meet the deadline for the payment of the 25 per cent bid prices.

Anichebe said the deadline for the payment of the 25 per cent payment bid prices, which expires on Thursday (today), remained sacrosanct except the National Council of Privatisation ruled otherwise.

The bidders that paid on Wednesday, he said, included Vigeo Consortium, the preferred bidder for the Benin Distribution Company, which paid $32.25m; Transcorp/Woodrock Consortium, which paid $75m for Ughelli Power Plc; CMEC/EUAFRIC Energy JV paid $50.25m for Sapele Power Plc; and Kann Consortium, $41m for the Abuja Distribution Company.

Others were Aura Energy, which paid $20.46m for Jos Distribution Company; Mainstream Energy Limited paid $59.46m for Kainji Power Plc; and Sahelian Power SPV, which paid $34.25m for the Kano Distribution Company.

Bidders that had earlier paid the mandatory 25 per cent of the bid values for the respective companies they intend to buy were Amperion Power Company Limited, which paid $33m for Geregu Power Plc; Integrated Energy Distribution & Marketing Company, $42.25m for Ibadan Distribution Company, and $14.75m for Yola Distribution Company; NEDC/KEPCO, paid $32.75m for Ikeja Distribution Company; and West Power & Gas, paid $33.75m for Eko Distribution Company.

Anichebe added that the agency was expecting payment from 4Power Consortium (Port-Harcourt Disco); Interstate Electrics Limited (Enugu Disco); and North-South Power Company (Shiroro Power Plc).

According to him, the Request for Proposal document, which was issued to the investors, stipulated that BPE will invite the reserved bidders when any preferred bidder fails to meet the payment schedule.

He added that it was only the NCP headed by Vice-President Namadi Sambo that had the power to grant any extension of deadline.

Anichebe said, “We have not got any directive from the council. The BPE is only an implementation agency. We follow what the RFP says, which is to call the reserved bidder in the place of any preferred bidder that fails to meet the deadline.

“However, we don’t need to be negative about it. We expect the remaining bidders to pay tomorrow (Thursday).”

Punch

Adeola Adebowale

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