Osinbajo, council approves fast-tracking of concession of Zungeru power plant 

The National Council on Privatisation, chaired by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, has approved the fast-tracking of work plan for the concession of the Zungeru Hydroelectric Power Plant (ZHPP).

The council also approved the board composition and proposed governance framework for the sustainable management and payment of post-privatisation liabilities of the power sector.

The liabilities are those transferred to the Nigerian Electricity Liability Management Company (NELMCO).

These were made known in a statement issued in Abuja on Friday by Osinbajo’s spokesman, Mr Laolu Akande.

The NELMCO board has the Minister of Finance as Chairman, while members are the Minister of Power, the Director-General, Bureau of Public Enterprises and the Director-General, Debt Management Office.

Others are the Managing Director, NELMCO, and all its Executive Directors.

Two relevant members are to be included in the board from the private sector.

The council noted that the key objectives of the ZHPP concession included leveraging private sector access to finance and reducing reliance on government nko budgetary allocation to fund the China EXIM Bank loan.

Another objective is “leveraging efficiencies and better facility management (maintenance) culture of the private sector for the long-term preservation of the asset’’, Akande stated.

The council approved the concession of the ZHPP at its December 2020 meeting, he added.

Akande stated also that the council was briefed on the performance assessment report of the nine Electricity Distribution Companies (DISCOs).

The report has already been forwarded to the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, the sector’s regulator, for further review and action, he added.

At the meeting, the council noted that a thorough performance assessment showed that most of the set performance targets were not met by the nine DISCOs.

Minister of Water Resources, Suleiman Adamu, Director-General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises, Alex Okoh, representatives of federal ministries, heads of MDAs and other senior government officials attended the meeting.