The Federal Government has set up three committees to fast-track the privatisation of 10 power generation plants and 11 power distribution companies under the National Independent Power Plants (NIPP) project.

The National Council on Privatisation (NCP) and the Niger Delta Holding Power Company (NDPHC) set up the committees on Friday.

Presenting the joint memo from NDPHC and Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE), the Managing Director of NDPHC, James Olotu, sought the ratification by the joint Board of NDPHC and NCP of the divestment of 80 per cent shares of the company and the list of nominees for the road shows in Lagos, London, Hong Kong and New York.

The joint memo also sought the approval of some committees that will handle the sale of the power plants in line with due process and laid down procedures.

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The three committees formed are the Joint Evaluation Committee whose work is to evaluate the expression of interest for the NDPHC power plants; the Joint Transaction Committee of Niger Delta Power Company headed by the Managing Director of the Company; and the Joint Technical Committee headed by Governor Gabriel Suswam of Benue State.

This is even as the Federal Government commended the management of the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) for successfully completing the building of National Integrated Power Project (NIPP) power plants across the country.

Presiding over the joint meeting of the Niger Delta Power Holding Company and National Council on Privatisation (NCP) today at the State House, Abuja, Vice President Namadi Sambo gave the commendation, saying “the manner in which the management of the NDPHC handled the successful completion of the ten power plants is commendable.”

Mr. Sambo said President Jonathan will from henceforth commence the commissioning of the power plants, noting that the issue of gas availability has been resolved, remaining transmission. He also noted that before the end of 2014 the power sector is expected to generate 20,000MW of electricity.

He advised that everything should be done in accordance with the law and guidelines by the experts, adding that the sale of the produce would be used to bridge the gap in transmission and distribution in the sector.

In his remark, Governor Suswam noted that the Lagos Raodshow was very successful and marked a good beginning as many investors indicated interest in the power sector. He said the aforementioned joint committees have prominent personalities. He also said a final approval of what the three committees had done would be given by a board of the Niger Delta Power Holding Company and National Council on Privatisation.