Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has said that it would take serious private sector investment in Nigeria’s power sector to meet the country’s rising energy needs. He disclosed this on Monday, May 8, 2023, when he presented the discharge certificate to the Chairman of Transcorp Ughelli Power Limited, the core investor in the Ughelli Power Plant, Mr. Tony Elumelu.

Recall that the Group CEO of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), Mallam Mele Kyari has projected that energy demand in Nigeria and other African countries would increase by 30 to 35 per cent in the next 20 years.

In a proactive move to meet energy demands, the Federal Government has constantly been searching for more sustainable ways of managing energy needs. This may have informed the discharge certificate to the company which came a month after the National Council on Privatisation approved the recommendations of the Bureau of Public Enterprise that Ughelli Power Plc be delisted from routine monitoring, having satisfied five core post-acquisition requirements, namely: available capacity, capital expenditure, human resources, health, safety and environment and corporate social responsibility.

The Ughelli Power Plant, whose capacity had dropped to 300MW, became an asset of Transnational Corporation of Nigeria Plc in 2013 under the company’s power subsidiary, Transcorp Ughelli Power Limited. The plant was commissioned in 1966 with an installed capacity of 972MW,

Upon the presentation of the certificate, Osinbajo commended the management of Transcorp Power, urging the company to “continue in that path and to do even better.”

Elumelu, in his remarks, said the company’s indigenisation plan has ensured that the Power Plant is managed and run by Nigerians alone.

His words: “Mr Vice President, let me also say that in addition to the criteria set, we actually are doing a very strong indigenisation of Transcorp Power Plc. I’m proud to say that our power plant is managed and operated 100 percent by Nigerians.

The BPE Director-General, Alex Okoh, on his part, said the discharge certificate became necessary after an evaluation showed that UPP’s generation capacity under Transcorp Power grew by 227 percent in a decade.

He said: “The company has achieved an available capacity of 680.8 megawatts, which surpasses the minimum performance target of 670 megawatts. Capital expenditure totalling N58.6bn was the covenant established for phases one and two of the post-acquisition plan, while actual investments made by the current investor were in the sum of N83.85bn, adding that all the agreed benchmarks on human resources, health, safety and environment and corporate social responsibility have also been achieved.”

Essentially, the need for reliable and affordable energy is more fundamental to the development of any nation. It is therefore undoubted that the newly presented discharge certificate to Transcorp Ughelli Power Limited will improve the overall well-being of the people. This move will also significantly support expanded industry, modern agriculture, increased trade and improved transportation system.

Meiza Nigeria