By Adedapo Adesanya
Transcorp Power, a subsidiary of Transcorp Plc, a conglomerate in Nigeria, has been favoured by the federal government to acquire the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC).
The Vice President, Mr Yemi Osinbajo, dropped this hint in Oyigbo Local Government Area (LGA) of Rivers State during the commissioning of the Afam three-fast power plant this week.
According to him, the decision was given by the National Council on Privatisation (NCP), noting that it is a historic development in the country’s power sector.
“A major breakthrough of our privatisation process, which of course, as you know, started in 2005-2006, was and has been inadequate of private investments and real cash injections,” Mr Osinbajo said during the event held on Tuesday.
“From the time we started, indigenous firms such as Transcorp Power and Heirs Holding have been making significant investments such as this 100 per cent acquisition of installed capacity Afam Power Plc and Afam Three Fast Power Limited, jointly referred to as Afam GenCo. The acquisition cost, I am sure you have heard already, is N105.3 trillion.
“Only yesterday, the National Council on Privatization (NCP) formally delisted Transcorp Power Plc, formerly known as Ughelli Power Plc, from routine monitoring and evaluation by the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), indicating yet another successful power investment.
“I can say the last few days belong to Transcorp Power because, at the meeting of the National Council on Privatisation (NCP), the council approved Transcorp Power Consortium as the preferred bidder of the acquisition of the Abuja Distribution Company,” he said.
In total, there are three mobile gas turbines newly installed at the Afam 3 power plants with a power generating capacity of 240 megawatts.
In 2022, the Abuja disco poached the Managing Director of Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC), Mr Adeoye Fadeyibi, as its new Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer while it appointed Mr Kassim Burkullu as its new Chief Technical Officer (CTO).
AEDC has recently geared toward efficiency in customer service delivery and ensuring the effectiveness of turnaround of the company following previous drawbacks.
Modupe Gbadeyanka