6—VANGUARD, THURSDAY, JULY 19, 2012
25 investors bid for PHCN power generation coys BY EMMA UJAH, ABUJA BUREAU CHIEF
A
Chief Magistrate Dominic Onwu (left) presiding during the first trial of traffic offenders by the Enugu State Mobile Traffic Court, in Enugu. PHOTO: HILL EZEUGWU.
Jonathan ready to honour Reps' invitation if... — Abati BY BEN AGANDE
A
BUJA — THE Presidency, yesterday, responded to the summons issued by the House of Representatives inviting President Goodluck Jonathan to throw light on the fight against terrorism and other security matters, saying the president would honour such invitation if it was formally conveyed to him. Special Adviser to the President on Communications, Dr Reuben Abati, who stated the president’sposition, however, hinted that such invitation was unnecessary since majority of members of the House of Representatives are members of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, which the president briefs regularly on the situation in the country. Abati who spoke on a radio programme, “Fact file” on Ray Power FM emphasised that “the President does not have any problem with the invitation by the House of Representatives. But there should be a formal letter inviting him to come and address them on the floor of the House. Something will be said on the floor of the Assembly and once the President does not have a formal letter inviting him, the President cannot on the basis of newspapers report say he has been invited. "I am very sure that when there is a formal invitation from the National Assembly, the President will honour it. In any case, the National Assembly is dominated by members of the president’s party. “In any case, Mr. President often invites
members of the parliament to hold meetings with him in the Villa and they honour the invitation. So, when they invite him formally, he will go especially since the issues are of mutual interest for both arms of government and of interest to Nigerians. "It is a procedural thing when the lawmakers ask the President to come and address them. You will remember that every year, he addresses them when presenting the Appropriation Bill. Whenever the President goes to event in the ruling party, he briefs them. When he does Presidential Media Chat, he gives reports to Nigerians.
"On a daily basis, we report the activities of government online, through newspapers and other possible medium to show that this is a Presidency that is transparent and has nothing to hide. His true mandate is to serve Nigerians. It is not that the President is avoiding the legislature; it is not that the President does not want to go to the National Assembly. Both bodies work together."
On pending bills before the president On Bills that remained unassented to by the
president, Abati blamed the president’s hesitance to sign on controversies surrounding some of the Bills. According to him, “there are indeed pending unsigned Bills but they are very few. Those bills are already being discussed by the executive and the legislature because there are certain issues arising from the content of those bills. Because there is ongoing dialogue, the legislature has not found itself under any pressure to exercise any veto powers. There is some kind of understanding that there are issues that need to be addressed.
Jonathan sends PIB to NASS BY BEN AGANDE
A
BUJA — THE final copy of the Petroleum Industry Bill, PIB, has been forwarded to the National Assembly by the President. Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs Diezani Allison-Madueke, who disclosed this to State House correspondents after the Federal Executive Council, FEC, meeting said what was sent to the National Assembly was the only authentic copy of the bill and that it contained some security features to guard against circulation of fake copies. She said an electronic copy of the document would be available on the website of the Petroleum Ministry yesterday evening.
She said: “There is no other Petroleum Industry Bill for 2012. We have seen various adaptations appearing in the media, particularly online, that did not come from the Federal Government of Nigeria and we are unaware of who posted them on these sites. “There is only one Petroleum Industry Bill 2012 which has been released today for the first time to the National Assembly and will, therefore, be available on the Ministry of Petroleum Resources site by this evening (yesterday) for down-loading. “You will notice that inside the bill, there are water marks including a signing across each page that says the Petroleum Industry Bill for 2012 and the Coat of Arms of the nation and this is the only
Petroleum Industry Bill that we have produced. “Therefore, all other versions or adaptations are not valid and have never been. I will like all Nigerians to please take note.” The Minister said the various stakeholders “had to review it in great detail and rework the bill to reflect as much as possible the entire spectrum of what we considered will be the substantial strategic framework for the petroleum industry and the amalgamation of over 16 laws in the oil and gas sector, that will carry this nation in that sector for the years to come. “This is, therefore, the definitive petroleum industry bill and we expect that it will receive due consideration in the National Assembly,” she said.
BUJA — A TOTAL of 25 prospective investors have submitted technical and financial bids for the six electricity generation companies of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria, PHCN. The Federal Government had set a revised timeline of August 17, 2012 as deadline for receipt of technical and financial bids from the potential investors. The four thermal power generating companies slated for privatisation are: Ughelli Power Plc, situated in Delta area in SouthSouth region of Nigeria with a total installed capacity of 972 MW; Geregu Power Plc- situated in Kogi State in North Central Nigeria with a total installed capacity of 414 MW; The others are: Afam Power Plc, comprising Afam I-V power stations located in Rivers State, SouthSouth Nigeria with an installed capacity of 776 MW; Sapele Power Plc in Sapele, Delta State, SouthSouth Nigeria with an installed capacity of 1020 MW.
There are equally two hydro power generating companies up for sale, namely: Kainji Power Plc comprising Kainji Power Plants and Jebba Power Plants located in Niger and Kwara States respectively in North-Central Nigeria and Shiroro Power Plc at the Shiroro Gorge, Niger State in North-Central Nigeria. The next stage of the privatisation exercise, according to the spokesman of the BPE, Mr. Chukwuma Nwoko, will be the harvest of the bidders’ technical and financial proposals for distribution companies. It has July 31, 2012 as deadline. The transaction timeline also reveals that the evaluation of the technical bids will take place between August 14 and 28, 2012. The National Council on Privatisation, NCP, will approve the results of the technical evaluation on/or before September 11, 2012. The deadline for the shortlisted bidders for generation companies to submit their letters of credit is September 18, 2012 while October 2, 2012 is for shortlisted bidders for distribution companies.
FG okays Lagos-Ibadan railway contract BY BEN AGANDE
A
BUJA — THE Federal Executive Council, yesterday, approved the construction of the LagosIbadan Standard Gauge Rail Double Track with Double Formation under Addendum No. 2 (2nd segment) of the modernisation of LagosKano railway project. Minister of Information, Mr Labaran Maku, who addressed State House correspondents after the meeting said the contracts were awarded in favour of Messrs China Civil Engineering Construction Company Nig Ltd in the sum of $ 1,487,782,196.00 payable at the prevailing exchange rate at the time of payment, inclusive of all taxes with a completion period of 36 months. Maku who was accompanied by the Ministers of the Federal Capital Territory, Bala Mohammed; Trade and Investment, Olusegun Aganga; Transport, Idris Umar; Power, Barth Nnaji, and Urban and Housing Developmnet, Ama Pepple, said council approved contracts including the
implementation of Addendum No. 2 (2nd segment: Lagos-Ibadan to the main contract for the railway modernisation project (Phase 1; Lagos-Kano) for the Ministry of Transport. According to him, the council also approved the variation of the scope of the contract for design and construction of Abuja Rail Mass Transit Project (Lots 1&3) from the initial work span of 60.67km to 45.245km (Lots 1A &3). With the variation, the contract sum was reduced from $841,645,898.00 to $823,540,545.87 payable at the prevailing exchange rate, at the time of payment inclusive of 5 per cent VAT and 5 per cent variation on prices. Speaking on the other contracts in the power sector, Maku said in line with accepted best practice in the operation and maintenance of hydropower the council approved the supply and installation of parts for the 2 x 140MW Units 411G3 Generators at Shiroro Hydroelectric Plc, in favour of Messrs AsNDRITZ Hydro GmbH, in the sum of N2,075,754.00.