Guardian BPE to hand over power firms in October TUESDAY, 25 - TopicsExpress



          

Guardian BPE to hand over power firms in October TUESDAY, 25 JUNE 2013 00:00 FROM ROSELINE OKERE (LAGOS) AND ANTHONY OTARU (ABUJA) NEWS - NATIONAL THE Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) has unveiled plans to hand over power firms in October this year to the new investors after the payment of the balance of 75 per cent bid price. BPE noted that all the investors had already completed the minimum of 25 per cent and are expected to effect payment of the balance before the handover date. Director-General of BPE, Benjamin Dikki, said in a statement Tuesday, that any investor that is unable to pay the 75 per cent bid balance within six months from the date the mandatory 25 per cent bid payment was made, would be penalised. He, however, expressed the confidence that all the investors were serious businessmen who have the required financial muscle to pay the bid price. Dikki assured Nigerians that power supply in the country would improve when the private investors take over. He expressed confidence that the introduction of sound maintenance culture would ensure that the current installed capacity of 6000 megawatts is exploited and put on the national grid, stressing that that alone would stabilise power supply. He appealed that the investors be given time to increase capacity as “they (investors) will after takeover, re-tool and bring in new machinery like turbines which are not easily bought off the shelf to put power on proper footing”. He allayed fears of monopoly by the investors as the necessary framework and institutional checks had been put in place to regulate their activities and appropriate pricing. Dikki who also spoke on agriculture and transportation sectors in the country, said the Bureau was working in tandem with the transformation agenda of the present administration to transform the two sectors through the privatisation of the Abuja Securities and Commodity Exchange (ASCE) and the setting up of a regulatory body in the transport sector. “When privatised, ASCE will ensure appropriate and stable pricing for all agricultural produce and warehousing while the setting up of Nigerian Transport Commission (NTC) will regulate activities in the transport sector”, he added.
Posted on: Wed, 26 Jun 2013 07:30:39 +0000

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