07 March 2015, Abuja – The Niger State Government has announced that it had sold off part of its stake in North-South Power Holding Company, the firm that bought the Shiroro Hydro Electric Plant located in the state.
It stated that out of the state’s 26 per cent stake in the firm, 16 per cent was sold to CEC Africa for $23m.
The state government had invested over N3.68bn in the shares, an amount that was sourced from commercial banks in the state.
The Commissioner for Investment, Alhaji Hassan Abdullahi, told journalists in Minna that the state Executive Council, at its last meeting, approved the sale of part of the shares to enable the government liquidate part of its liabilities to the banks.
Abdullahi said that CEC Africa had already made an initial payment of N400m to the government, with a promise to complete the balance before the end of the month.
He explained that there was a clause in the agreement for the sale of the shares for the firm to lose part of the deposit if it did not pay the balance within the stipulated period.
According to the him, the sale of the shares has already generated more than the amount the government committed to their purchase, adding that aside from this, North-South Power Holding Company had been honouring its social responsibility to the state through the construction of classroom blocks and rehabilitation of the Zumba-Shiroro road.
In addition, Abdullahi said that the firm had been offering scholarships to students of the state, while the first Annual General Meeting of its Board of Directors was expected to declare improved dividend, which would be an improvement on the state’s Internally Generated Revenue.
The commissioner added that the firm had also been paying tax to the government unlike what obtained in the past, insisting that the venture was profitable to the state.
