19 November 2012, Sweetcrude, LAGOS – Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi has advised the government to respect the terms and conditions of all contracts between it and investors in the power sector.
“Government must respect contracts signed on power. Under no circumstance should these contracts be revoked and I am happy that the power reforms contracts have not been revoked,” he said at the 46th Annual Bankers’ Dinner organised by the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria, CIBN, in Lagos.
According to Sanusi, government would not be taken seriously by the investors if it reneges on the terms and conditions of contracts.
The Nigerian goverment, through the Bureau of Public Enterprises recently concluded the sale of of 11 distribution companies, DISCOs, and six generation companies, GENCOs, from the unbundled Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN).
It named the preferred bidders for the DISCOs to include Abuja Electricity Distribution Company Plc, Benin Electricity Distribution Company Plc, Enugu Electricity Distribution Company Plc and Eko Electricity Distribution Company Plc, among others.
Those who won GENCOs include Ughelli Power Plc, Sapele Power Plc, Shiroro Power Plc, Geregu Power Plc, Afam Power Plc, and Kainji Power Plc.
Following the naming of the preferred bidders for the assets, some entities that lost out in the privatisation process have rejected the process, saying it was full of fraud, but those who won the bids, adjudged the process as transparent.
