The House of Representatives Committee on Finance on Friday expressed outrage over the decision of the Nigeria Bulk Electricity Trading Company, (NBET) to drag the country into Power Purchase Agreements that were detrimental to the interest of the country.
The committee also ordered management of the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC), to immediately commence a review of the Gas Purchase Agreement (GSA) between the Nigerian government and a certain company, for the supply of gas to its Calabar power plant, as it has been discovered that the said company was using the same platform to supply gas to other companies, when the country still pays the $10 million monthly commitment as contained in the initial agreement.
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Chairman House committee on Finance, Hon. James Falake said, “The situation we find ourselves and the earlier we, the operators of government agencies, get to know this the better for this country. People complain that Nigeria is borrowing money but those of us that are responsible for revenue management and cost management are just playing to the gallery in a way that satisfies our personal interests. Pure impunity! If an investor comes and says he wants to invest in power, for that investor to invest in power, he must have carried out his own survey to be sure that consumers are available to consume his power.
“It is purely business, what is our responsibility in buying the power from him? Let him sell the power to the people. Nigerians initially felt we needed to intervene in the power sector and provided support. But we are still where we are today. We have millions of Nigerians out of job – out of school but no job because we have no power to provide industries.
“NDPHC, can you please affirm to us, that by Monday, you will review, all I want to hear from you is to review that agreement because that company now has new customers. Please come back here and tell us, that the $10 million has now dropped to $3 million. Nigeria can manage that”, Faleke told Mr Chiedu Ugbo of the company, which he agreed to act on.
The committee was dissatisfied that in about 12 of the Power Purchase Agreement entered into by NBET under the ‘Take or Pay’ arrangement, Nigeria’s monthly commitment in one of them alone was about $30 million, whether the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) was able to evacuate for onward delivery to the DISCOs or not.
The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Company, NBET, Dr. Nnaemeka Eweluka, confirmed that the said agreements were all entered into without recourse to the Federal Executive Council (FEC), as he argued that they were not like normal procurement processes that may require such based on the recommendation of the BPP, saying they only relied on the advise of Attorney General of the Federation, while the Minister of Finance signs on behalf of the Nigerian government.
Reacting to the discoveries, Hon. Falake asked the NBET Managing Director if he has been behind every agreement Nigeria has signed, and how many power agreement he has signed, the amount involved, and if Azura was part of it.
“What is your responsibility in buying the power from him. Let him; the investor sell the power to the people” Falake asked.
In his response, Managing Director NBET Eweluka, said “Azura became operational from 2018, agreement was initially signed in 2013, then there was an addendum of 2014, 2015.
