Governors disapprove of plans by FGN to privatise power plants
Story from Abah ADAH, Abuja
Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) has moved against the proposed privatisation of the National Integrated Power Project (NIPP) plants.
The Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) had proposed to privatise the power plants of Benin Generation Company Ltd., Calabar Generation Company Ltd., Geregu Generation Company Ltd., Olorunsogo Generation Company Ltd., and Omotosho Generation Company Ltd.
The Ekiti State Governor and outgoing NGF Chairman, Dr Kayode Fayemi, who commented on the proposal Thursday, said the governors were against the plan as all stakeholders were not included in the scheme.
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“We examined the issues relating to the proposed privatisation of the power project and we took a decision that at this point in time, the NGF is opposed to the sale of any of the plants until appropriate steps have been taken that would take into consideration the interest of states that are also equity holders in those plants.
“We’ll continue to do whatever we can to ensure the resources of Nigeria stay with the Nigerian people and are not filtered away in a manner we can’t explain.”
The NGF also advised the federal government against sanctioning the striking Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), urging it to rather resolve the contentious issues in the interest of the students and Nigeria.
The NIPP is an intervention project of the federal, state, and local governments of Nigeria conceived in 2004 to address the issues of insufficient electric power generation and excessive gas flaring from oil exploration in the Niger Delta region, but later extended to the transmission and distribution segments of the value chain. Seven power plants were designed in gas-producing states as part of the project, while three were added later making them 10, including the five mentioned above that were penciled down for sale.
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