The Federal Government has invited prospective core investors to express interest in the eleven distribution companies unbundled from the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), according to the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) which has published advertisements in local and foreign media to that effect.

The core investor sales to be carried out through international competitive bidding will cover services of all 11 Electricity Distribution Companies in the country. They are:

Abuja Electricity Distribution Company Plc; Benin Electricity Distribution Company Plc; Enugu Electricity Distribution Company Plc; Eko Electricity Distribution Company Plc; Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company Plc Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company Plc; Jos Electricity Distribution Company Plc;Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company Plc; Kano Electricity Distribution Company Plc; Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company Plc; and Yola Electricity Distribution Company Plc


http://tribune.com.ng/index.php/news/14664-fg-seeks-investors-for-11-power-distribution-companies

The sooner the better if you ask me!!!!

it is a well come development,if implemented.

Its about time. in fact, they should be auctioned asap.

Rather than investors, i would like the power company broken up and completely privatised.
That way the foreigners will come in, compete and in the process give consumers value for money.

Oyibos know how to make things look easy while nigerians know how to make easy things seem hard.

dry bone shall rise again! and a once crippled electrical generation power, will quicken once more

1: How do we reconcile the fact that PHCN's much vaunted National Assets (on Paper) are not at par with the physical ones on-ground
2: How do you handle the huge debt profile FG has on PHCN's books (Is it pseudo-Privatization or Privatization-proper)
3: How do you re-train the estimated 80% of PHCN workers over 50 yrs old in Field and Office
4: FG has set plans to pay benefits and pension arrears when redundant staff are let off. is this going to change the Valuation of PHCN Assets

I didn't know the FG was going to release this news when I posted the following in the Complaints forum on Saturday, 11/12.

Hello All Nairalanders/Moderators,

Can we have Consumer Complaints as a separate section on Nairaland Forum please? I have a complaint about PHCN services and bills that I'm getting. I have been to Consumer Forum of Nigeria (CAFON) hosted by Sola Salako but PHCN personnel deliberately came very late to the forum in order to avoid consumer questions and they ran away before the end of the programme under the guise that they had more important appointments!!! I wonder what appointments could be more important than that of the customers paying their bills.

I know its almost the same experience with everyone living in 9ja and people hardly bother such issues anymore, but we the Nairalanders should be able to set up our own equivalent of United States Tea Party forum and begin to get the government to give attention to our objective complaints. Let us help ourselves.

My complaint is that I keep getting Meter Maintenance Charge as part of my bill every month. I have written to my local PHCN office to protest that I dont have a meter, even though I paid for one years back and have continued to give copies of my receipt to them. They just told me I have to keep paying as there's nothing they can do about it. I checked on line and was asked to write to the Power Minister to protest it but we know President Goodluck Jonathan is currently in charge of the power ministry. How do you get Mr. President to give attention to this sort of complaint? I wrote my first complaint letter three years ago when I was getting N154 meter maintenance charge as part of my monthly bill. This was increased to N1019 since July 2010 without consultation or warning whatsoever. I went to my local PHCN office and all I got was "it not just you but everyone is affected by the increase" attitude. Nobody seems to want to hear that I haven't got a meter talk less of getting it maintained by PHCN staff. Nobody does anything but drop the monthly bill at my door.

Nairalanders, the election is just round the corner and I feel that if nothing is done about this governmental rip-off, the private companies who buy off PHCN will continue this trend when they take over the business. Please let us make our voice heard by this government.

What is your experience and what result did you get if you did anything about it? Can anyone advice us how we can get this and other consumer issues to the attention of the government, whether local, state or federal? Thanks in advance for your useful contribution.

good to hear

zahealer:

I didn't know the FG was going to release this news when I posted the following in the Complaints forum on Saturday, 11/12.

Request for a prepaid meter. No bill, No charge, I believe its a way to discourage d former meter stuff.

na wa o! another way to guy our money.

I just wonder how people posts here without reasoning, govt trying to engage companies in handling power and people are saying that govt are planning to steal money. Nigerians i tire o.

Hackney you are right. I'm all for privatisation, hook, line and sinker. Anything short of full privatisation will be like oil on a hot plate. I once mentioned that investment in this sector will only attain its full potential if the players are permitted control from beginning to end, i.e. from generation to distribution with government's involvement strictly regulatory. That is the closest model to the telecom one. Now government will decide who gets what parts and its favoured players will carry the lightest loads, the juiciest deals while neutrals or its perceived enemies will be hung out to dry.

This is the great regret why power was not thrown open the same time with telecoms back then. Bad men have simply become wiser and what they lost in telecoms, power sector privatisation will pay for. Hackney I'm sure that is what you mean by 'Nigerians making things seem hard'. There should be a round table with investors and nothing should be off limits. I'm sorry to say 'beggars cannot be choosers'. Let them present their proposals before a structure is concluded then we can express all our fears and concerns and check how many are still left on their seats after our whining is over.

I PUT IN 2YEARS IN NEPA. THEN, IT WAS AS CORRUPT AS THE NIGERIAN POLICE. EMPLOYEE WITH SCHOOL CERT HAVING A STOREY BUILDING AND MAYBE 2 CARS ETC. IT WAS REALLY TERRIBLE. I THINK PRIVATIZATION COULD SAVE THE DAY AND FREE US FROM THE BURDEN OF UNEMPLOYMENT.

It's a good development but the truth is that it may never be properly and professionally handled. Everything in Nigeria is about politics and politics as it were has not done us well

whatever,let FG remove every stumbling block on the way for smooth operation.

Thanks Exponential, I have requested for prepaid meter and they told me its out of stock. Can you ever win with these corrupt people in essential service sector in Nigeria? I believe this meter maintenance charge is something they programmed into their system to steal money from consumers - one of them said its their "ogas up in the system" that share the money for meter maintenance. Imagine the marketer in my area rides a heavy 4x4 and boasts he will soon finish his second house before they sell off PHCN. The guy is just a marketer!!

imagine that!!