PHCN: Jonathan gives share certificates, licences to core investors today

From ISAAC ANUMIHE, Abuja

At last, Nigeria has found light at the end of the tunnel after years of groping  in darkness  following President Goodluck Jonathan today hand over the share certificates and licences to the 15 new owners of Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) successor companies who have made 100 per cent payment of the respective bid amounts.
The presentation, which is scheduled to hold in Abuja is part of the build-up to the activities to mark the 53rd Independence anniversary of Nigeria.
The Director General of the BPE, Mr. Benjamin Dikki noted that “this handover  is a culmination of 14 years of painstaking effort by the National Council on Privatization (NCP), Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) and other key stakeholders to reform and liberalise Nigeria’s electricity industry, which began in 1999”.
Recall that the Electric Power Sector Reform Implementation Committee (EPIC) was set up in 2000 with the key mandate to proffer an appropriate legal and regulatory framework for the sector.
This gave birth to the National Electric Power Policy which was approved by the Federal Executive Council in September 2001 followed by the passage of the Electric Power Sector Reform Act of 2005.  The passage of the Act gave the NCP/BPE the legal impetus to set up the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) also in 2005.
The NCP/BPE went further to vertically unbundle the integrated monopoly into three segments of Generation, Transmission and Distribution Companies. As part of the reform initiative, NEPA was transformed into Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN).
To further give teeth to the reform, in August 2010, President Jonathan launched the Presidential Roadmap on Power Reform with two key advisory organs, namely, the Presidential Action Committee on Power and the Presidential Taskforce on Power.
The Bureau published advertisements for expressions of interest by prospective investors in the eleven distribution companies and six generation companies between December 13 and 20, 2010, in both local and international media.
So far, out of the 14 successor companies scheduled for handover, a total of   $2, 525,824,534 was realized as proceeds. Out of the amount, $1,256,000,000.00 came from the Distribution Companies (DISCOs) while the Generation Companies (GENCOs) raked in $1, 269,824,534.
The Federal Government has equally set aside about N384 billion to settle labour liabilities.