Reps Threaten To Unveil Nigerians Behind Manitoba

Speaker, House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara

…say TCN assets undervalued …as other prospective investors accused BPE of underhand dealings

The House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee on Investigation of power assets on Thursday has threatened to unveil the identity of Nigerians behind the Manitoba Hydro International, which got the concession to manage Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN).

Business Day report continues:

Ahmed Idris, chairman of the Committee alleged that the memorandum submitted by Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) showed that the TCN assets were undervalued prior to its sale.

To this end, the Committee directed management of BPE and Abuja DISCO documents on the value of the assets of the TCN and other power stations sold by the agency.

Other lawmakers frowned at the development, noted that the allegations bothering on the manipulation and non-transparency in the transaction and sale of various public assets.

In his presentation, Iseoluwa Abiodun-Johnson, representative of Power Grid of India, accused Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) of underhand dealings.

According to him, BPE appointed a Canadian firm as consultant in the transaction which eventually twisted in favour of Manitoba Canada.

He added that the Bureau also failed to notify Power Grid of the disqualification contrary to the provisions in the bid process.

Abiodun-Johnson who called for the review of the entire process, maintained that BPE contradicts itself by admitting that it obtained a ‘No Objection’ against its testimony earlier during the ongoing investigation, when it claimed that the Bureau had no reason to obtain ‘No Objection’ from Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) for the sale of public assets.

He argued that BPE resolved to hand over the TCN to the higher financial bidder with lower competence, adding that Manitoba did not expressed interest in the previous bidding exercise due to its incompetence.

Abiodun-Johnson maintained that the President and every other Nigerians are under obligation to comply with the extant laws of the National Assembly, adding that BPE cannot afford to embark on unilateral sale of assets above the thresholds stipulated by the Public Procurement Act.

While speaking on behalf of BPE, Amaechi Aloke, BPE’s Deputy Director, explained that there was a public advertisement that called for Expression of Interest before the pre-qualification of the company as the preferred bidder.

He told the Committee that Manitoba International Company Ltd of Canada became their preferred bidder after the pre-qualification and bidding of four companies that was done transparently.

The government agency also hinted that the whole essence of the bidding process was to get the lowest bidding contractor with the requisite expertise to take over and manage the power station.

While ruling, Idris who quoted section 87 of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria said that the House has powers to cause investigation into any matter, person or authority in which the National Assembly has powers to make laws for the purposes of good governance, assured that the committee will obtain relevant documents from Corporate Affairs Corporation (CAC) and relevant agencies that will aid the ongoing investigation.