The National Council on Privatisation (NCP) has approved the Bureau of Public Enterprises’ (BPE) request to conclude its engagements with Transcorp Power Consortium for the execution of the Performance Agreements (PAs) on the sale of Afam Power Plc and Afam III Fast Power Limited.
The NCP, chaired by Vice President Kashim Shettima, granted approval on Thursday during its third meeting of the year at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The endorsement followed a memorandum presented by the Director-General of the BPE, Ayodeji Ariyo Gbeleyi.
According to Gbeleyi, the new performance agreements (PAs) will formalise outstanding post-acquisition obligations and set operational targets designed to ensure commercial viability of the Afam power assets.
The DG disclosed that the Federal Government had already received N53.9 billion in privatisation proceeds from the sale, and that the asset was fully handed over to Transcorp Power Consortium after the transaction was completed in November 2020.
However, government restructuring earlier in 2024 created the need for fresh documentation to align the transaction with updated performance expectations, investor commitments, and regulatory requirements.
The Vice President said this new direction is a critical necessity, calling for discipline and vision to guide the country away from the pitfalls of inefficiency.
He maintained that the NCP must serve as the economic compass guiding the nation’s investments and policy choices, stressing that without urgent action, economic projections would remain theoretical.
“Our aspiration to build a trillion-dollar economy is a destination that demands discipline, vision, and absolute adherence to the compass produced by this Council. Without such a compass, our economic projections would amount to nothing more than an exercise in theory formation,” VP Shettima said.
The Vice President proposed a future where the NCP would focus on unlocking the value of Nigeria’s latent assets, which he described as an immense reservoir of national wealth. This includes underutilised land, dormant real estate, and untapped intellectual property.
“The necessity of this Council has never been in doubt. We replace bureaucratic bottlenecks with commercial agility, relieve government of the costly burden of subsidising inefficient state-owned enterprises, and attract vital investment,” he said.
To achieve this optimisation, VP Shettima directed the Council to immediately explore modern models like long-term concessions, asset-backed securitisation, and core investor sales tied to strict performance benchmarks.
He also issued a stern warning on transaction integrity, demanding zero tolerance for ambiguities to avoid costly litigation and to send a “powerful signal of stability and seriousness to the international investment community.”
Naijaonpoint earlier reported that Transcorp Power Consortium emerged winner of the bidding process for the acquisition of Afam Power Plc.
Transcorp Power Consortium submitted N105.3 billion to emerge as the winner of the bidding process. The consortium is followed closely by the Diamond Airstrips, which submitted a N102.4 billion bid.