Edo, Delta, Ondo and Ekiti lost power bid because they cheated – Atedo Peterside

by Rachel Ogbu

Picture: The Punch

The four states said to have invested in power production have failed in their combined attempt to make their preferred power distribution bidder – Southern Electric Distribution Company – the winner. They blame the unfairness of the process.

Governors of Edo, Delta, Ondo and Ekiti, whose consortium submitted a bid for Southern Electric Distribution Company one of the facilities, had dubbed the entire process that threw up the preferred bidders as fraudulent adding that the favoured bidder, Vigeo Power Consortium will not be allowed to operate in their territories. 

But the Federal Government has defended the power sector’s privatisation, saying that it followed due process.

In a reaction, Chukwuma Nwokoh,the spokesperson of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) has described the governors as bad losers.

Atedo Peterside, chairman of the Technical Committee, National Council on Privatisation, NCP, said the company failed from the beginning by submitting multiple commercial bids – primary and alternative commercial bids.

Peterside pointed out that the companies that made up the consortium were 90 per cent privately owned – not owned directly or indirectly by the governments of Delta, Edo, Ekiti, and Ondo states.

“Is it fair that a private sector group, 90 per cent controlled, to submit two envelopes in violation of the rule and then drum up support of governors to cry foul over the process that was adjudged transparent by local and international observers? Did the consortium tell the governors that they submitted two bids? Is it right to call for a change of the rule after the game has been played?” he asked.

What is more, that the four state governors misguidedly announced the technical scores of Southern Electricity and Vigeo Power, and went ahead to undertake a comparative analysis of the two technical bids, showed that they had gone out of their way to compromise the process, which should automatically disqualify their bid, ThisDay reports.

The NCP said it became imperative to respond to the allegations because of its damaging nature, coming at a time when the nation is undertaking its largest and most complex privatisation transaction ever and which could raise divestment proceeds of close to N400 billion.

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