It was yet another victory yesterday, as Transcorp Plc, core investors in the Ughelli Power Plant, won the bid for Afam Power, by beating two other contenders to emerge winner with an offer of N105.3 billion at the bids opening ceremony, at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, in Abuja.
Accordingly, the Chairman, Technical Committee, National Council on Privatisation (NCP), Mr. Muhammad.K. Ahmed, represented by his Deputy, Dr. Ago Teriba, announced the Transcorp Power Consortium as the winner of the commercial and financial bids for the privatisation of Afam Power Plc.

The NCP also declared Diamond Stripes, which bid N102.4billion, as the first runner-up and reserved bidder. Speaking, the President/Chief Executive Offier, Transcorp Plc, Mr. Valentine Ozigbo, said: “it has been very obvious that governments can’t run business. They need the private sector to do so. I am glad that we are here to prove once again that point.”He said that the purpose of Transcorp remains to impact lives and transform Nigeria, adding that the company’s ability to turn around the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, and Transcorp Power Limited in Ughelli, is an indication that it has what it takes to also turn around the Afam Power plant.

Similarly, for the Yola Electricity Distribution Company (YEDC), Quest Electricity, the sole bidder, won the bid with its offer of N19billion.Ahmed had earlier explained that the trio of prospective investors: Diamond Stripes Power Consortium, Transcorp Power Consortium, and Unicorn Power Generation Consortium were in the bid for the acquisition of Federal Government’s 100 per cent stake in Afam Power Plc.

He also revealed that although Sandstream Nigeria Limited, and Quest Electricity Ltd., were in the race for the acquisition of Federal Government’s 60 per cent stake in YEDC, the former was disqualified for not submitting a bank guarantee alongside the commercial proposal as required by the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE).

This led to the nullification of Sandstream Nigeria’s bid, which automatically made Quest Electric the sole bidder for the acquisition of majority shares in the Yola DisCo. For the acquisition of the YEDC and Afam power shares, BPE’s Director-General, Mr. Alex Okoh, had recalled that in line with the approval of the NCP, the Bureau had called for expressions of interest (EoIs) on August 16, 2018.

Upon the expiration of the deadline on September 16, 2018, about 12 firms expressed interest in Afam Power. He noted that during the evaluation of the EoIs, nine firms obtained the qualifying marks, and were consequently shortlisted to the request of proposal stage.

The deadline for the submission of technical and financial bid was March 15, 2019, he said, during when BPE received technical and financial proposals from three firms and consortia out of the nine that prequalified. Okoh also explained that only two firms, Quest Electricity Nigeria Limited, and Sandstream Nigeria Limited were qualified for the Yola DisCo.

Meanwhile, the representative of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Aisha Mahmud, noted that the power sector is presently grappling with numerous challenges such as liquidity, non-cost reflective tariff, and others. She however said the regulator is working hard to ensure that there is a functional electricity sector, and that by next year, there is a high hope that everything would have been put in place for the industry efficiency.

Representatives of the Economics and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), and the Directorate of State Services were in the ceremony to monitor its transparency.