Senate probes N3.85bn Manitoba power deal

Committee on Power, Steel Development and Metallurgy chaired by Senator Philip Aduda (PDP, FCT), yesterday grilled minister of power Chinedu Nebo and chief executive officer of the Canadian company Mr. Don Preitman.They were questioned over the failure to make available the contract agreement between the Nigerian government and Manitoba.The Federal Government handed over TCN to […]

Committee on Power, Steel Development and Metallurgy chaired by Senator Philip Aduda (PDP, FCT), yesterday grilled minister of power Chinedu Nebo and chief executive officer of the Canadian company Mr. Don Preitman.
They were questioned over the failure to make available the contract agreement between the Nigerian government and Manitoba.
The Federal Government handed over TCN to Manitoba Hydro International in a $24 million contract that is expected to run for three years, aimed at improving the electricity transmission system.
Senators yesterday said the Canadian company has failed to improve power supply with half of the contract years already gone.
TCN is one of the successor companies formed after the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) was unbundled.
Manitoba is to take over its functions of a transmission services provider, system operator and market operator.
Committee members also demanded to know the truth about one of such infractions allegedly committed by Manitoba when it assumed sole control of TCN bank accounts and day-to-day running of the company. The said full details of all payments into the accounts by the TCN must be provided.
They said after 15 months of commencement of the contract, Manitoba could not convince them about the level of their performance. They therefore demanded that the company make available to them the graphic presentation of what it has been able to achieve from inception to date because “the systems are failing and collapsing” while the contract has entered its last half.
However, the power minister attracted the anger of the Senators when he said he had not brought with him copies of the contract agreement as requested by the committee, arguing that the agreement was signed by the Bureau for Public Enterprises (BPE) and not his ministry.
“You can’t push it on BPE, this is a public document and you are the custodian of the agreement,” said Senator Nurudeen Usman Abatemi (PDP, Kogi).
While lamenting that the committee has been requesting for the agreement document for two years but the power ministry has consistently refused to avail them, Senator Aduda then directed Mr. Nebo to submit it unfailingly this by 2pm today.
The committee also sent out the Manitoba CEO after they discovered that he again did not come along with the Nigerian as requested by the panel.
“This is a critical asset of the Nigerian people that was privatised you must come with your Nigerian counterparts, I am not joking about this, no going back on this,” Senator Aduda charged.
Earlier, Mr. Preitman had defended the performance of his company arguing that power projects such as the national grid are capital extensive and it takes time and money to execute as “there is no magic wand about that.”
In a related development, the power committee also threatened to sponsor a motion in the Senate that will call for the sacking of the Mr. Kenneth Achugbu over failure of the agency to award contracts for rural electrification under the constituency products of members of the National Assembly for two years now.