Oando

Goddy Egene

Some shareholders of Oando Plc have expressed confidence in the company’s ability to deliver significant improvements in the delivery of electricity upon its selection as the bid winner.

The company recently submitted bids for the acquisition of Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) distribution companies (Discos) in the on-going privatisation programme.           

                                 
The   Nigeria’s leading indigenous integrated energy group 
participated in bid submitted bid for the Eko, Ikeja and Ibadan Discos.                                                                   
Some of the  over 260,000 said the company, which  is listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange(NSE), the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in South Africa and the Toronto Stock Exchange in Canada, had the capacity to deliver.

For instance, the National Coordinator, Independent Shareholders Association, Mr. Sunny Nwosu, said: “I am confident in the managerial capacity of the Oando Group and their track records speak strongly for them”.

He affirmed that Oando is capable of turning the fortunes of the PHCN discos around, in the same way it did with Unipetrol - an erstwhile government-run fuel retailing business. Today, Oando (Unipetrol) has been transformed into an integrated energy conglomerate that is now listed on three stock exchanges across two continents.

Another shareholder, Alhaji Musa Shittu, said “Oando has always relied on sound technical partnerships in the development of its energy platform.  Those partnerships have enabled its emergence as a leader in the different areas of the energy sector in which it operates.  If you look at the company’s consortium for the PHCN bids, its partners are tested and proven names in the global world of efficient electricity distribution.

These establishments that have delivered similar transformations in other countries like India and South Africa and there is little doubt that the Nigerian Power Sector will benefit from their combined expertise.”

Commenting further, Shittu added:  “The issue of power in this country is a national emergency, and only companies with the pedigree, commitment and evident know-how to fix the sector should be considered. As a country we cannot afford to play politics with this process.” 

Selling PHCN to Oando, an indigenous listed company with over 260,000 Nigerian shareholders is akin to selling to the citizenry.
The shareholders said they were  pleased with the professionalism and transparency of the Bureau of Public Enterprise and the National Council on privatisation in the PHCN bid process thus far.    

                            
According to them, they  expect that these bodies will allow indigenous, publicly held champions such as Oando, lead the highly anticipated transformation in the power sector.