Director General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), Alex Okoh has said that the Bureau will not compromise on transparency and integrity in the sale and management of public assets in the country.
Okoh’s position was contained in a statement signed by the Head, Public Communications, Amina Tukur Othman.
Speaking at the joint kick-off meeting of the transaction advisers for the privatisation of Afam Power Generation Plant and Yola Power Distribution Company in Abuja on Wednesday, April 4, 2018, Okoh also said the Bureau had raised the bar for privatisation transactions.
He maintained that stakeholders would be carried along throughout the entire stages of the transactions.
Okoh noted the criticism that trailed the initial privatisation of the power companies and said that the lessons learnt in the previous exercise would be applied to set a standard for the fresh transactions, adding that transparency and professionalism are key to all the Bureau’s transactions.
On the emergence of FBN Quest Consortium as the sole transaction adviser for Yola and Afam Power Companies, he said there was nothing untoward about it.
His words: “It is in furtherance of the Bureau’s stance on transparency because the Consortium participated in the two distinct bidding processes for the selection of transactions advisers and emerged as the preferred bidder for Yola Power Company and reserved bidder for Afam Power Company.”
Okoh further explained that when negotiations with the preferred bidder- Energy Markets & Rates Consortium (EMRC)for advisory services for Afam Power Company transaction fell through, the Bureau made recourse to the reserved bidder – FBN Quest in line with best practice.
While expressing confidence in FBN Quest’s ability to deliver on both transactions, the BPE boss pledged the Bureau’s support towards ensuring the success of the standards to be set in the fresh transactions.