In order to avoid any unwanted situation that may arise from the lack of transparency in the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) bidding process, the Chairman of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Dr. Sam Amadi, has said that there was need for transparency in the process.
The Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) had on Monday, opened the bids for the takeover of the successor companies from the unbundling of the PHCN but refused to disclose details of the bids saying it was an in-house bid.
The BPE is expected to between September 25 and October 10, 2012, open financial bids of prospective investors for the companies and announce the preferred bidders on or before October 23, 2012.
But according to the NERC chairman, the real challenge, going by Nigeria’s history was proactive disclosure and transparency. “So I will suggest to the BPE to publish the names of all bidders, publish their owners and promoters. Remove every obstruction, so that there will be no mystery man at the end of the day. Get it to be open, let the media and civil society groups be part of the process,’’Amadi said.
He noted that the current process was more qualitative than the previous ones the country has had, but stressed that the best security was publicity. “Because if I am not in this job and I am a civil society activitist, I will not believe that the process is going on transparently, you will have to do extra to prove to me that this is not some sweet heart deal,’’ he said.
Speaking further, he said: “But from the evidence I have seen so far, there is no sweet heart deal, because the law empowers NERC to approve the transactions, I won’t approve any transaction that has shady evidence to it, that’s why I will insist that we do the right thing. I will like to see a credible bidder win the bid in a fair and transparent process and take over the entities and improve efficiency.’’
Amadi however, regretted that government was at a stage where it was reforming with no alternatives but low bargaining power.
?“We are at a place where we are having a bazar sale. Where it is like we need to dispose of the wares with no choice, where the control is not with us but with the bidders. Because they can price it how they like, there are no incentives to buy, so we will be forced to downgrade to sell,’’ he said.
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