…As 12 firms jostle for Afam Power
OpeOluwani Akintayo
28 September 2018, Sweetcrude, Lagos — After a failed attempt in the past at privatising the Yola Power Distribution Company, YPDC, the federal government has again put up the utility firm for sale.
Yola DisCo, which was part of the eleven power distribution companies sold by the federal government under its privatisation programme in the power sector, was returned to the government by investors in 2013 due to insecurity and insurgency in the North-eastern part of the country, the company’s franchise area.
According to the Bureau of Public Enterprises, BPE, spokesperson, Ms. Amina Tukur, about 19 companies have shown interest in acquiring both Yola Disco and the Afam Power Company.
The process of selling both companies is beginning to gain momentum after the National Council on Privatisation, NCP, in 2017, approved another transaction to privatise the two power companies.
The BPE had then put out a request for expression of interest on the two companies, published in national newspapers on August 16, 2018.
According to Tukur, seven bids were received for Afam while 12 firms showed interest in Yola DisCo.
Already, submission of bids for the Expression of Interest,EOIs, for the two companies closed at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, September 26, after which, Ms. Tukur said, the requests were then collated.
She said the bureau already instituted a committee led by the director of energy, Yunana Malo, to scrutinise the bids, adding that this has commenced immediately.
On the other hand, the sale of Afam Power Generation Company had stalled due to delay in signing the Gas Supply/Purchase Agreement, GSAA and the Gas Transportation Agreement, GTA.
