By Adaobi Rhema Oguejiofor
The Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, has handed over the discharge certificate of Transcorp Power Limited, the core investor in the Ughelli power plant, to Tony Elumelu, the Chairman of the Company.
The handover ceremony took place on Monday before the beginning of the National Council on Privatisation (NCP) meeting.
Osinbajo, while presenting the certificate, said that only private sector investment in the industry would guarantee steady power supply and meet the energy needs of Nigerians.
This comes a month after the NCP approved the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) recommendations, and after Ughelli Power met the five key post-acquisition requirements, which include available capacity, capital expenditure, human resources, health, safety and environment, as well as corporate social responsibility.
The Vice President, while speaking in Abuja at the short ceremony, said that the power needs of Nigeria are grave and that he strongly believes that the right approach is the privatisation of the power sector in order to enable serious-minded private sector players to invest in the provision of public power, as well as ensure that they are efficient, while they make profit at the same time.
He further urged other players in the sector to follow the path of Transcorp Power.
In his own words, “we hope that this will not be the last in the series of private power Companies that are taking over power plants that are unable to meet the expectations of the post-evaluation plans.”
He commended the management of Transcorp Power, encouraging the Company to continue in the path it is working on and do even better.