The Bureau of Public Enterprises has debunked rumours of the renewal of contracts and the licences of the various electricity distribution companies across the country.
The BPE said it had neither renewed that of the Benin Electricity Distribution Company nor any other disco, saying that such rumours were mere fabrication and a figment of the imagination of those spreading such rumour.
BPE Director General, Alex Okoh, who spoke with our correspondent in an exclusive interview in Benin, the Edo State Capital, appealed to the civil society groups, residents and all stakeholders in the BEDC franchise areas to exercise restraint and allow the company to perform its functions assiduously without any hindrance.
Okoh described BEDC as one of the best managed Discos in the country.
He said, “The government has the most regards to contacts and will not do anything to jeopardise the operations of companies that the Federal Government had willingly entered into contact agreements with, including Discos.
“We have been following the development in Benin Disco closely with keen interest and, indeed, the attention of the Bureau has been drawn to certain erroneous information over the purported renewal of the licenses saga to the Discos, including BEDC Electricity Plc, for the purpose of retail distribution of electricity.”
Speaking further, the BPE boss said the difference between a performance agreement review and what had been purported as a review of the operating licence of the Disco, stipulated the milestones that the core investors should achieve within a specified period.
He, however, said “the issue òf licencing is a different matter altogether and is being handled by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).”
According to the BPE DG, “In relation to the above, all discos sold are thus also required to acquire NERC licence in addition to purchasing the privatised company and its assets.
“For the BEDC, there is an existing 15 years NERC licence entered into 10 years plus 5 years with another 10 years renewal option at the end of the 15 years period of up to 25 years,” Okoh
said.
