BOWING as usual to pressure from vested interests, the Federal Government is sabotaging its own power sector reforms. With the unrelenting harassment of Manitoba Hydro International, the Canadian firm contracted to manage the Transmission Company of Nigeria, the ongoing liberalisation of the power sector is becoming murkier by the day. In the end, it is the Nigerian people and the economy that will be the worse off from the high-wire intrigues bedevilling the sector.
The omens are bad. First, the government, through the National Council on Privatisation, had somehow contrived to discourage the most reputable power operators from the West and South-East Asia from the bidding for the 17 generating and distribution companies unbundled from the Power Holding Company of Nigeria. Instead, little-known bit players in the market, along with some consortia and newly-formed special purpose vehicles cobbled together by the local political and business elite, had a field day. Only Kepco of South Korea, among the world’s reputable firms, managed to squeeze into the field, taking over the Egbin Thermal Power station it won years ago.
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