Vice President Namadi Sambo

James Emejo

The Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) said Monday the Federal Government’s privatisation programme of the power sector remained intact despite the resignation of the former Minister of Power, Prof. Bart Nnaji.

It also assured Nigerians and investors that the September 25 date set for the opening of financial bids of investors for the generation companies whose technical proposals met the benchmark for success remained unchanged.

Moreover, investors for the distribution companies whose technical bids met the benchmark would also have their financial proposals opened on October 10, 2012 as earlier planned, it said.

The BPE, in a statement signed by its spokesman, Chukwuma Nwokoh, a copy which was made available to THISDAY also reacted to a recent publication in “The Economist” of September 8-14, 2012 titled “Reforming Electricity in Nigeria” in which some allegations were made against the privatisation process by the Nigerian government.

It said: “It needs to be pointed out that the privatisation process is driven by the core values of transparency and integrity. The claim that the resignation of Professor Bart Nnaji as Minister of Power ‘over a conflict of interest has exposed the rot in a process that seemed to be running smoothly’ is not correct.”

Nnaji had resigned amid reports that he was connected to a company bidding for one of the lucrative electricity contracts in the ongoing privatisation of the successor companies of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN).