Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP), today criticized the mass media for casting aspersions on the Minister of Power, Prof. Barth Nnaji, for the delays in the privatization process which falls within the ambit mandate of the Bureau of Public Enterprises {BPE}.
Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP), today criticized the mass media for casting aspersions on the Minister of Power, Prof. Barth Nnaji, for the delays in the privatization process which falls within the ambit mandate of the Bureau of Public Enterprises {BPE}.
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In a statement signed by Osita Okechukwu, the National Publicity Secretary, CNPP accused Sahara Energy of sponsoring the media criticism of the Ministry of Power instead of the BPE, the agency of which it says Sahara Energy has been negotiating on the instructions of former President, Olusegun Obasanjo..
“It is worthy to note that the failed deal with Sahara Energy is a perfect example of Obasanjo's meddlesome in privatisation which almost discredited the entire privatisation exercise,” the statement said. “The revelations at the Senate public hearings on privatisation of state owned enterprises under Obasanjo are too fresh in our memory.”
The CNPP said that while it is in support of State capitalism and does expect the federal government of Nigeria to fully invest in such critical infrastructure as the Egbin-Power-Plant, it believes that if any State Owned Enterprise is to be sold or privatized at all, it must be done on the basis of the best market value.
The Conference said that it has received news, instead, that Sahara Energy and its cohorts have not only intensified their lobby network to cajole President Jonathan into letting go of the Egbin power plant, they have also deployed a battery of media houses to demonize Prof. Nnaji.
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“CNPP will mobilize Nigerians to prevent the fraudulent sale of the Egbin Plant to questionable characters, especially those, who, far from testifying at the public hearings of the House of Representatives ad hoc committee on the management of the subsidy on petroleum products, took to their heels after collecting a humungous amount of money from taxpayers in the name of fuel subsidy,” the statement said.
CNPP further stated, “On this score we support the position of Professor Barth Nnaji, Minister of Power and by extension President Goodluck Jonathan for preserving the Egbin-Power-Plant; hence under the Multi Year Tarrif Order revenue expenditure they invested N1.5billion in the plant. Egbin-Power-Plant is presently Nigeria’s power plant generation flagship and nobody should grab it through the back door.”
The Conference recalled that in December 2007, it petitioned the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission concerning such untidy privatization deals as those of the refineries that were packaged in a less-than-transparent fashion on the eve of the departure of Obasanjo “when a company by the name Sahara Energy and Korean Electric Power Company {KEPCO} formed a Special Purpose Vehicle {SPV} with the sole purpose of purchasing 51% of the 1320MW power plant for a mere peanut of $280million; against the market value of over $1billion.”
CNPP said it had been keeping vigil for the renewal of the bid of Sahara Energy and cohorts to lay claim to Egbin power plant, knowing they had done everything under the sun, including “smuggling” $168million into an escrow account purported to be part payment for the plant.
The statement asserted that the Sahara Energy cabal has been moving from one media house to another in a desperate attempt to lobby the media against the Minister of Power, Professor Bart Nnaji and thereby frustrate the ongoing power sector reform because of the minister’s conscientious refusal to acquiesce in the illegal and inconclusive sale of the Egbin Power Plant in Lagos State to Sahara Energy and its foreign partner, Korean Electric Power Company (KEPCO), for a ridiculous amount of money’.
It therefore urged President Jonathan not to capitulate to the machinations of Sahara Energy and cohorts who not only failed to expand the capacity of Egbin plant by 1350Megawatts as promised, but want to grab the national patrimony without commensurate market price.
“Secondly the gentlemen of the press should desist from hatchet jobs and be weary of the campaign of calumny against Professor Nnaji who is undoubtedly the defender of our commonwealth,”
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