Paul Ohia   and Chineme Okafor 



In a move certain to douse anxiety over the fate of the power sector reform and privatisation programme, President Goodluck Jonathan is still reviewing the management contract for the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN).

Confirming the new twist in the $23.7 million management contract, which was awarded to a Canadian firm, Manitoba Hydro International (MHI), last July, a source in the Ministry of Power said the ministry was yet to receive notification on the cancellation of the contract, but what they understood was that the president had ordered a review of the contract.

Also, Manitoba said Thursday  that although it had not received any official notice on the contract’s termination, it would seek for compensation from the government if it happens.

Chief Executive Officer of MHI, Mr. Don Priestman, who has been superintending activities of the firm at TCN, disclosed this in response to enquiries by THISDAY Thursday in Abuja.

An official of the power ministry said last night that the management contract might not have been cancelled as reported exclusively by THISDAY two days ago and was confirmed by the president’s Special Adviser, Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, that same day when other media houses made enquiries.

He said the president had decided that the contract be reviewed by a team of experts, which will be concluded next week.

In a bid to prove that Manitoba had not been shown the exit, the official said that its chief executive was at the Presidential Villa yesterday to meet with officials in the presidency.
He explained that the review was being done to ensure that whatever irregularities that needed to be corrected in the contract are effected.

“The president is a stickler for procedure and the rule of law. So the review is being carried out to correct any irregularity that has been noticed in the contract,” he said.

The official added that the reason a review was being undertaken was to keep the power reform and privatisation programme on course.
“The president remains committed to the programme and will do everything to keep it on course.

“He is also aware that there are some interest groups and politicians who want to derail the process.

“But it must not be hijacked by these politicians whose sole aim is to sabotage the programme for their own selfish gains,” he said.

Priestman, however, informed THISDAY yesterday that although the government had not formally communicated its decision to cancel the three-year contract, the company would certainly ask for compensation from the government, if it communicates its position as reported in the media.

According to him, “At the moment, we have got no official word from the government on the contract cancellation and everything we know about it has been from media reports which is a heck of a way to do things.

“We have no official communication from the government up till now and until we get some official notification to that effect, I guess we will have to wait to know the government’s position.

“But I’m still in my office at the PHCN (Power Holding Company of Nigeria) corporate headquarters, which houses TCN and our telephone lines have been shut down. I cannot make official calls outside of here but rely on calls coming in.”
When asked to clarify the current position at the state-owned transmission utility as well as Manitoba’s position, Priestman said: “We have to wait to take a decision to either demobilise.

“But right now, we are in a limbo. We came here in good faith to do our job but the mood here suggests otherwise and we reckon that we are not in a fight with anybody; we just want to do our job.”

On the possible legal action that might be taken by Manitoba, Priestman said: “The decision is not in my hands but certainly we have got a case, we are owed a lot of money and we hope to ask for compensation if we are communicated of government’s position that the contract has been terminated.”

The Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), for several weeks, has been pushing for the cancellation of the contract on the premise that it did not pass through due process as provided under the Public Procurement Act.

Its Director General, Mr. Emeka Eze, had written a memo to the president recommending the contract’s termination and that the BPP be allowed to appoint a new contractor within 30 days, after it had been furnished with five names by the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE).

But the president had approved that the power ministry undertake the job of appointing a new company to manage TCN within 30 days.
It is believed that he may have reviewed his decision to get the power reform programme back on track.

In a related development, it has emerged that it was a petition by the Power Grid of India, which faulted the process by which Manitoba emerged as the preferred bidder to manage TCN, that triggered the chain of events that led to the contract’s review by government.

THISDAY discovered yesterday that Power Grid had written to BPE alleging that Manitoba’s selection was done before the financial bids were opened, a decision they saw as not being in conformity with the rules set out by the BPE.

Of the four firms that had expressed interest in managing TCN in 2007, Manitoba and Power Grid were the only two that had their bids prequalified when the process to select a management contractor for the transmission was restarted by the BPE in 2010.

The Indian company contended that it had won the bid in a rigorous exercise conducted in 2007, which made it the preferred bidder for the transmission company.

By yesterday, THISDAY learnt that the company was warming up to convince government officials of its readiness to manage TCN.

The management contract was signed between the BPE, on behalf of the Federal Government, and Manitoba in July, with a commencement date of September 1, 2012.

But owing to interference by officials in the Ministry of Power, the take-off of the deal was stalled, while the Canadian firm was prevented from effectively taking over TCN.

http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/president-still-reviewing-manitoba-tcn-contract/130808/

Why is this government so confused? Days ago government was said to have revoked the contract and now they are reviewing it.

There you have it those who are misled by whatever they read on papers we now knw the reason for the review,and the indian company that wrote the petition against manitoba and the process.

3rd to comment.... *Dancing azonto with grandma*

No be Nigerian Government?....

The only thing they sabi na REVIEWING....Atleast that is hard work.....Mtchewwwwww

mosun_ade: Where is Mr. Gbawe? [b][/b]

You are asking for trouble madam... Lol

take dat: Why is this government so confused? Days ago government was said to have revoked the contract and now they are reviewing it.

Who is confuse now. Is it you who believe whatever sh¡t u read in paper or the govt who have made their position very clear that it is a review.

take dat: Why is this government so confused? Days ago government was said to have revoked the contract and now they are reviewing it.

Because Nigerians smelled and screamed corruption....so they had to rethink fast. If we kept quiet, it would have held.

This is all part of the game of corruption now perfected by Jonathan.
The presidency simply wanted to threaten Manitoba hydro to part with some bribe money. That bidding started during previous administrations so Manitoba hydro is yet to ''shandi'' Jonathan. Jonathan have been missing on the bribe fees. Now, it appears Jonathan admin must frighten Manitoba hydro to part with some huge bribe money before allowing them to operate. Once they do so they will suddenly re-gain the contract and all the noise about due process will die. That's how corrupt it gets in Nigeria.

Symptoms of a clueless, directionless government. One step forward 20 steps backwards

Oh, so was all of this was cause by Nigerian journalist trying to sell their stories, through shocking readers?

Or is this GEJ backtracking, because he knows the gov wil be sued by anitoba if the contract is cancelled, without recourse?

ITbomb:
Who is confuse now. Is it you who believe whatever sh¡t u read in paper or the govt who have made their position very clear that it is a review.

Airhead, is Abati no longer the spokesperson to the President or did he come out to refute what was published in the papers? So because government conceded to the outcry that followed their earlier stance by back-tracking I shouldn't voice my concern? M-U-M-U

This brings to question the Control Processes that the Bureau of Public Enterprise uses to perform Due Diligence on prospective bidders in this Privatization Process. Thcey have been fraught with irregularities and failure to disclose to the Public who are over 40% base of consumers of Public Infrastructures being Privatized) BPE and GEJ owes Nigerians Full Disclosure. Who are the experts reviewing this Contract? Doyin Okupe or Reno Omokoroi

Gentlemen this government is confuse, infact the day Prof. Nnaji resign i smell rat and lost hope on this privatization exercise will succeed. i don't know how GEJ allow himself to be convinced by those greedy NEPA officers that dont want Nnaji to be their at all, because of his seriousness to sanitize power sector in this country.
Can any good come from Nigeria? I beg GEJ to ask this man to come back and complete this work. If only one thing this government can achieve, so be it.

Why are you so confused. The company in question has said they have not received any official document of such. So where did the issue of Govt. revoking the contract come from?

take dat: Why is this government so confused? Days ago government was said to have revoked the contract and now they are reviewing it.

gentleoyink: Why are you so confused. The company in question has said they have not received any official document of such. So where did the issue of Govt. revoking the contract come from?

Direct your question to Abati who made the pronouncement on behalf of the president

The fear of Canada is the beginning of wisdom for GEJ in this matter.

Maxymilliano:

You are asking for trouble madam... Lol

Characters like you just keep showing the deceit and lack of principles Nigerians are known for. Your focus on personalities on this forum blinds you to what is obvious. GEJ is only doing a u-turn because of the enormous criticism he has come under. Same as Yar Adua did a U-turn when he directed the EFCC to fall under Aondoakaa and the entire world screamed in protest.

If you are not partisan beyond redemption and given to discussing personalities instead of issues then you will realize that the announcement of the cancellation of the Manitoba contract came from Reuben Abati who is the official spokesman for the Nigerian Presidency. Unless you now want to be telling us ,ridiculously, that Abati acted on his own.

It is not everything folks like you should play 419 with. The office of the President made the announcement through its spokesman. Simple. All that is now going on is that a dishonest and weak government is trying to do a u-turn after coming under pressure while its dishonest supporters are here shouting other forumers name. You people have no shame.

We know you fans of GEJ enjoy all his Nollywood antics and look for every small thing to jubilate but professionals and technocrats will not be fooled by this action of GEJ to stall and deceive because the information arm of his office announced the cancellation to the entire world. Perhaps Abati does not understands the meaning of "cancelled" and "terminated" when he used those words. Shameless sycophants.


http://www.channelstv.com/home/2012/11/14/power-reform-fg-terminates-manitoba-contract/

presidency’s spokesman on media, Dr Reuben Abati on Wednesday, confirmed to Channels TV that President Goodluck Jonathan has annulled the deal because “due process was not followed in the award of the contract…..and there were issues about the violation of due process” he said.

He however gave the assurance that “this does not in any way affect the ongoing privatization of the power sector.”

Manitoba was one of the transmission companies hired by the former Minister of Power, Professor Bart Nnaji, to manage the nation’s power transmission network and was supposed to start work at the beginning of September but transmission is still been controlled by the government.

The Ministry of Power has not commented on the matter.

Interview with Dr Reuben Abati on Manitoba

Q: What happens to the recent management contract awarded to the Canadian power firm, Manitoba

Ans: I can confirm to you that it has been cancelled.

Q: You mean the contract has been terminated?

Ans: Yes the contact has been terminated.

Q: Any reason for that?

Ans: For the simple reason that the management contract was misprochured.

Q: What do you mean by “misprochured”?

Ans: By being misprochured, I mean it failed due process review. In other words, there were issues about the violation of due process…..What has been observed when the President ordered a review of the award of contract for the engagement of the management contractor was that there were violations of due process. So it is on the basis of that that this management contract has been set aside….If the approval threshold is above the power of the originating agency, it(contract) must go to the Federal Executive Council for approval. In this particular case, the Manitoba contract was awarded for 23.6 million US dollar which is above the threshold for Bureau of Public Enterprises(BPE). So BPE cannot award the contract within that threshold. It must go to FEC and it must also be referred to Bureau for Public Procurement(BPP) for certificate of no objection. There are two examples of due processs that were breached…. The new directive is that there should be a re- procurement exercise. And to show everybody that government is committed to power reform programme, this re-procurement exercise should even include Manitoba and they should apply to the BPP for certificate of no objection when the decision is taken. And the entire procurement process should be concluded within 30 days. What government is after is the principle of transparency and we will not compromise it because we are in a hurry. No. President Jonathan is committed to getting it right.

tatosh: Symptoms of a clueless, directionless government. One step forward 20 steps backwards

On this issue there was never a step forward

Liar, liar pants on fire!

Still, a welcome development - just like the reversal of the National football team's disbanment.

eGuerrilla: Liar, liar pants on fire!

Still, a welcome development - just like the reversal of the National football team's disbanment.

Don't mind them. Some are here celebrating sleaze while the world sees dishonesty, cluelessness, deceit and corruption - ultimately wrapped up in the notion that the President is a weak and clueless character who does not have any understanding of what is going on around him. Are we no longer meant to have confidence in the announcement of the spokesman to the Presidency?

If Manitoba is re-instated, then all the pressure - online and otherwise - would have paid off. Somehow, I doubt this will happen. The GEJ Government , when cornered, has a penchant for 'theatrics' exemplified by Otedola/Farouk and Ribadu/Orasanye/Otti saga.

They have already decided to sack Manitoba and draft in 'one of the boys'. The condemnation has shocked GEJ same as the subsidy protest prompted several insincere actions including the empty promise of wage cut, the formation of the Ribadu task force and the propagandist promotion of the 'panacea' of SURE which has delivered nada to date.

They stall for time here as usual. The real strategy , in my opinion and going from what has been seen from this Government time and time again, will then be to go on to discredit Manitoba and validate whatever it is they have done or want to do.

Gbawe:

Don't mind them. Some are here celebrating sleaze while the world sees dishonesty, cluelessness, deceit and corruption - ultimately wrapped up in the notion that the President is a weak and clueless character who does not have any understand of what is going on around him. Are we no longer meant to have confidence in the announcement of the spokesman to the Presidency?

If Manitoba is re-instated, then all the pressure - online and otherwise - would have paid off. Somehow, I doubt this will happen. The GEJ Government , when cornered, has a penchant for 'theatrics' exemplified by Otedola/Farouk and Ribadu/Orasanye/Otti saga.

They have already decided to sack Manitoba and draft in 'one of the boys'. The condemnation has shocked GEJ same as the subsidy protest prompted several insincere actions including the empty promise of wage cut, the formation of the Ribadu task force and the propagandist promotion of the 'panacea' of SURE which has delivered nada to date.

They stall for time here as usual. The real strategy , in my opinion and going from what has been seen from this Government time and time again, will then be to go on to discredit Manitoba and validate whatever it is they have done or want to do.

Don't mind those silly clowns who likes taking credit for others toil. If it was not for the public outcry they would have maintained the status quo,

GEj is on top of the situation soon a committee will be set up to review the contract *one day this man will set up a committee to review individuals in the country* SHM

take dat: Don't mind those silly clowns who likes taking credit for others toil. If it was not for the public outcry they would have maintained the status quo,

To be honest, Nairaland is full of the most shameless hypocrites. Like GEJ, these folks stand for nothing and move entirely with the wind. Only yesterday they were bursting their lungs arguing 100% in support of the cancellation on grounds of breach of "due process" while also imploring the forum to wait for the stipulated 30 days.

Now they are here jubilating over a supposed 'stay of execution' they cannot understand only makes a mockery of them as unprincipled mischief makers committed far more to the defense of individuals (GEJ) than to having a consistent viewpoint.

They argued only yesterday in defense of the cancellation and jubilate today over the non-cancellation of the contract No wonder Nigeria is troubled. Entirely crappy and blindly sycophantic followership .

Didnt I say so? They will ascribe it to their online rants. I can read through their confused minds. Old age doesnt mean wisdom, in this regard, it means poluted mindset. they will soon say they are victorious and begin to quote all manner of sources to justify their claims.

I just pray this does not reduce the funds coming to Mr. Gbawe. Dont worry. Read more newspapers and you will have another thing to scream about.

Just two in one week. Ribadu and Manitoba. Do more work so you can get more money.

Why the long grammar? The contract was revoked so that it could be reviewed by the govt. Simple

wildorchid: Why the long grammar? The contract was revoked so that it could be reviewed by the govt. Simple

they will soon call you names for this.

I think we should all adopt a Wait-See Approach. perhaps we should give FG and GEJ the benefit of a doubt (as difficult as it seems)
What remains to be seen is how long this review will take since it took over 5 years to get it signed in the first place. POWER is critical to any nation's progress in the league of nations. If this fails, it is not GEJ's failure alone,it is ours.

Gbawe:

Characters like you just keep showing the deceit and lack of principles Nigerians are known for. Your focus on personalities on this forum blinds you to what is obvious. GEJ is only doing a u-turn because of the enormous criticism he has come under. Same as Yar Adua did a U-turn when he directed the EFCC to fall under Aondoakaa and the entire world screamed in protest.

If you are not partisan beyond redemption and given to discussing personalities instead of issues then you will realize that the announcement of the cancellation of the Manitoba contract came from Reuben Abati who is the official spokesman for the Nigerian Presidency. Unless you now want to be telling us ,ridiculously, that Abati acted on his own.

It is not everything folks like you should play 419 with. The office of the President made the announcement through its spokesman. Simple. All that is now going on is that a dishonest and weak government is trying to do a u-turn after coming under pressure while its dishonest supporters are here shouting other forumers name. You people have no shame.

We know you fans of GEJ enjoy all his Nollywood antics and look for every small thing to jubilate but professionals and technocrats will not be fooled by this action of GEJ to stall and deceive because the information arm of his office announced the cancellation to the entire world. Perhaps Abati does not understands the meaning of "cancelled" and "terminated" when he used those words. Shameless sycophants.


http://www.channelstv.com/home/2012/11/14/power-reform-fg-terminates-manitoba-contract/

This is a classic case of blowing hot air over nothing, how does the original post and the link you provided invalidates my earlier stance on this issue? The fact is that a contract was cancelled because the process of awarding the contract was fraught with irreularities and a review is necessary to determine if the company involved deserve to be compensated or not, so what exactly are you blathering about 'coz I don't seem to see anything new in your contribution.

And if you must know, all what is contained in the OP and your the link you provided only lend more credence to my earlier stance , the only thing missing from this version of the report is the 30 days proviso.

May be you should revisit your thread where this issue was discussed and compare your false premised arguments to what we've come to understand of the situation.

My stance has not changed bro, the 30 days proviso still exists, the jury is still out.

mosun_ade: Didnt I say so? They will ascribe it to their online rants. I can read through their confused minds. Old age doesnt mean wisdom, in this regard, it means poluted mindset. they will soon say they are victorious and begin to quote all manner of sources to justify their claims.

I just pray this does not reduce the funds coming to Mr. Gbawe. Dont worry. Read more newspapers and you will have another thing to scream about.

Just two in one week. Ribadu and Manitoba. Do more work so you can get more money.

my dear,what saddens me the most about you is the fact that as a lady you are talking out of point,most ladies on Nl are usually smarter than this,smh for you.

Maxymilliano:



This is a classic case of blowing hot air over nothing, how does the original post and the link you provided invalidates my earlier stance on this issue? The fact is that a contract was cancelled because the process of awarding the contract was fraught with irreularities and a review is necessary to determine if the company involved deserve to be compensated or not, so what exactly are you blathering about 'coz I don't seem to see anything new in your contribution.

And if you must know, all what is contained in the OP and your the link you provided only lend more credence to my earlier stance , the only thing missing from this version of the report is the 30 days proviso.

May be you should revisit your thread where this issue was discussed and compare your false premised arguments to what we've come to understand of the situation.

My stance has not changed bro, the 30 days proviso still exists, the jury is still out.

No disrespect, but as I told you on another thread, the 30 days priviso actually reflects the cluelessness and/or patent insincerity of GEJ. You don't appear to see what others see with your simplistic assertion above.

You may not like what some of us say, but you should understand that we know what we are talking about when you don't appear to. You seem to be formulating your argument according to an emotional desire to defend actions of government rather than through the usage of logic or even an awareness of what is feasible and what is not.

The 30 days proviso is senseless and unfeasible rubbish and suggest you and GEJ have no appreciation of the work to be done to secure a new TCN if thoroughness and "due process" is indeed to be followed. The 30 days proviso, as I stated to you elsewhere, only leaves knowledgeable folks to conclude a pre-selected 'winner' has already been lined up to take over.

http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=104952:fresh-intrigues-over-electricity-reforms&catid=1:national&Itemid=559

Fresh intrigues over electricity reforms



[b]Already, they have positioned “a management contractor” like Power Grid of India whose technical proposal was initially found inadequate as it failed to meet BPE’s benchmark to have its financial bid opened. That was why the financial bid of Manitoba was opened at the bids opening event. Still, some others are angling for the Chinese transmission firm.

But the fear is that being a government institution that manages a centralised market in China, the Chinese firm may not have the required experience in a market driven operation as envisaged in Nigeria. For the Power Grid of India, for now, the fear is that it has no international experience as it has only operated in India. This is in contrast to Manitobia, which has varied international experience. There is also another issue bothering some stakeholders spoken to in Abuja. This is the issue of the 30-day directive given to the Ministry of Power, not the BPE to organise a new management contract bidding process and get a winner. One source said:

“The fear is that the BPP is inadvertently working with anti-privatisation forces in misleading the President in claiming a management contractor can be procured in 30 days. This may be a tall order. It is not as easy as it sounds. The most feasible period could be six months.

“Another issue is that the BPP complained that BPE shortlisted from its data base of world class management contractors. Yet it recommended to the President that a shortlist of five management contractors be undertaken. One wonders if this is not its own goal.[/b] Again, the Ministry of Power, which is saddled with the job of conducting the bidding has no experience of privatisation as the management contract is a form of privatisation. The BPE, despite its experience in privatisation spanning over two decades, still needed the expertise of foreign consultants. And check the records, BPE worked for over a year with British Power International, a reputable consultancy, as advisers in procuring a management contractor. I think someone may be deliberately misleading Mr. President in order to halt any progress in ensuring regular supply of electricity in the foreseeable future.