Energy and Power
Contract Judgment: Firm Targets Nigeria’s 33 UK Assets for Sale
Sequel to the judgment given to Eurafic power Limited, against the Federal Government by a United Kingdom High Court, that some identifiable properties be confiscated and disposed, about 33 properties belonging to Nigeria in the UK have been identified and listed to be forfeited.
The judgement was entered by a UK Court over alleged breach of contract entered into on the sale of Sapele Power Station,
The development comes as Nigeria continues to battle another firm, P&ID, which is attempting to seize $9bn Nigerian assets.
In the fresh case with number CL-2017-000781, a UK High Court ordered the payment of $2.51m, £225, 949.19 and N57.
9m (a combined N1.12bn based on the current Central Bank of Nigeria’s exchange rate).The legal tussle arose from a contract entered into by the Federal Government and Eurafric Power Limited in February 2013, which was for a share sale agreement with the Bureau of Public Enterprises(BPE) and the Federal Ministry of Finance, both acting on behalf of the Federal Government.
The deal involved the purchase of Sapele Power Plc, owners of Sapele Power Station at the cost of $201m. The purchase included material properties and core assets of the company which listed ‘site land’ as one of its properties.
Pursuant to the share sale agreement, the National Council on Privatisation issued Share Certificate 0001 to Eurafric Power Limited on February 10, 2014, approving the sale of the Federal Government’s equity in Sapele Power Plc.
A Certificate of Handover with No 0002 also showed the handover of Sapele Power Plc to Eurafric Power Limited. All assets, liabilities, employees, rights and obligations of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria were also handed to Sapele Power Plc, now owned by Eurafric Power Limited.
However, trouble started after the handover when the Federal Government and the Niger Delta Power Holding Company began arrangements to transfer a substantial portion of the premises already sold to Eurafric Power Limited to one Ogorode Power Generation Company.
The Federal Government insisted that the portion it transferred did not form part of the sold assets, this prompted the firm to subsequently commence arbitration against the Federal Government in the UK in line with the agreement signed by the parties.
A tribunal was set up comprising a former Attorney General of Pakistan, Makhdoom Ali Khan as Chairman; with a retired Nigerian Supreme Court Judge, Justice Samson Uwaifo, and a former Attorney-General of the Federation, Chief Bayo Ojo (SAN) both named as co-arbitrators.
On September 28, 2017, the arbitral tribunal ruled in favour of Eurafric Power Limited. A UK High Court presided over by Justice Popple Well subsequently recognised the award as a court judgment.
A copy of the judgement dated January 15, 2018, reads in part, “The defendants are jointly and severally ordered and directed to pay to the claimant the following amounts: $2,500,000 as legal costs; £215,930.60, as an advance paid on costs and N57.9m, £10,018.50 and $11,158.33 as disbursements. All other claims and counter claims are dismissed.”
The court further stated that the defendants had 30 days to appeal after which the claimants would be free to enforce the judgment.
In a letter addressed to Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN), titled, ‘Enforcement of the Arbitral Award Against the Federal Government of Nigeria- Matters Arising,’ Eurafric Power Limited called on the Federal Government to honour the court judgment and pay immediately.
In the letter dated October 23, 2019 which was signed by its lawyer, Godwin Obla (SAN), the firm stated that it had identified 33 of Nigeria’s properties in the UK which were not being used for diplomatic purposes, adding that it would liquidate some of the assets soon.
The letter reads in part, “In our view, the identification of the 33 properties by the foreign counsel may pose a significant risk to the interest of the Federal Government of Nigeria if or when the report is tendered before the UK court at which stage it becomes a public document and accessible to any member of the public.
“As it is now common knowledge, in the wake of the global publicity attracted by the P&ID case, Nigerian assets abroad now stand the increased risk of seizure/forfeiture for the liquidation of judgment debts. In our opinion, therefore, it will not augur well for potentially hostile interests to gain access to actionable information of the Federal Government of Nigeria’s assets in the UK such as are contained in the report of the foreign counsel.”
The spokesman for the AGF, Umar Gwandu, said the Office of the AGF would exploit remedies available at its disposal in addressing the case.
“The Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation will work within the context of the law in exploiting remedies available at our disposal,” Gwandu said.
By Eze Okechukwu, Abuja
The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Wale Edun yesterday declared that liquidity was the major hindrance required by the troubled power sector to achieve the desired result of producing steady Power in Nigeria.
This is as the Managing Director of Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) Chiedu Ugbo informed the Senate Committee on Power in Abuja yesterday that the Calabar Power Generation Company under its ownership was the best performing power plant in the country.
In his submission to the Committee investigating the controversial Make up Gas (MUG) Reprocessing Deal Involving the Ministry of Finance, NDPHC, Calabar Generation Company Limited and ACUGAS Limited, the Minister of Finance pointed out that the need for liquidity into the Power Sector remained the key to unlocking it.
The Minister who made the submission through his Special Assistant, Mallam Dahiru Moyi said the agreements on Gas supply between NPDHC and ACUGAS Limited was inherited by former President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015, following after the agreement was signed in 2011 during President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration.
According to him, “just as the Ministry of Justice was not aware of the contract agreement, the Ministry of Finance was also not part of it from the beginning but since government is a continuum, the Ministry of Finance later came into it for the purpose of facilitating the required liquidity.
“The issues on ground about contracts agreements being investigated by the Senate Committee on Power is not about restructuring but providing the required liquidity which the Ministry of Finance is doing through collaboration with the Nigerian Liquified Natural Gas (NLNG).
“Since NLNG pays Gas in Dollars, the Ministry is collaborating with it for a practical solution of bringing liquidity into the age long contract agreement through Deed of Transfer.
“Make Up Gas (MUG) belongs to Calabar, Calabar belongs to NDPHC and NDPHC belongs to Federal and State governments with the Federal Government having 52.68%”, he said.
In his own submission before the Committee, the Managing Director of NDPHC, Chiedu Ugbo said the company as a result of the Gas supply agreement with ACUGAS Limited was taking Gas from three out of five units and generating power from Calabar plant to the National Grid which according to him was the best power plant in the entire country.
He said NDPHC went out of its way to construct an 80 kilometres gas pipeline for utilization of MUG in Calabar and Alaoji power plants.
He however lamented that problems relating to systemic transition, frequency and voltage issues have not made the firm achieve the desired results.
In his remarks, the Chairman of the Committee, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe (APGA, Abia South) thanked the stakeholders for giving the Committee clarity on the issue but added that it was still an ongoing investigation.
The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) has directed its members to comply with the directive of the two labour centres to begin an indefinite nationwide strike on Monday.
Its General Secretary, Mr Afolabi Olawale, in a statement on Saturday, said the union was committed to ensuring total compliance with the directive.
Recall that the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) declared an indefinite nationwide strike to begin on Monday, to express their grievances over the proposed new minimum wage.
.In a joint statement signed by NLC President, Mr Joe Ajaero and TUC President, Mr Festus Osifo, the centres declared the strike over the tripartite committee’s inability to agree on a new minimum wage and the hike in electricity tariff.
Afolabi said the union was concerned and disturbed with the insensitive attitude of the federal government “to the very critical issue of negotiating a new minimum wage for Nigerian workers”.
“This is in view of the various socio- economic policies of this administration that have impoverished the working people of this country.
“Leaders of our great union at all levels, from the units, zones and branches, should immediately put all processes in place to ensure total compliance with this directive.”
Also, the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) said it was mobilising its members to embark on the strike following the directive of NLC and TUC.
The Acting. General Secretary, Mr Dominic Igwebike, gave the directive to the members in a statement.
Igwebike said that along with the reasons of inconclusive negotiations on the minimum wage and electricity tariff hike, apartheid categorisation of Nigeria electricity consumers into bands was another, to embark on the strike.
“Given the above, all national, state, and chapter executives are requested to start the mobilisation of our members in total compliance with this directive to ensure the government does the right thing as stated above.
“The withdrawal of services becomes effective on Sunday 2nd June by 12.00 midnight, “ the union leader said. (NAN)
By Tony Obiechina, Abuja
In a strategic move to address the identified gaps in the Electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos), the Federal Government has secured a $500 million loan from the World Bank.
In a statement by Head of Public Communications, Bureau of Public Enterprises ((BPE) Amina Tukur Othman on Thursday, approval for the facility was given by World Bank Board of Directors on February 4, 2021.
According to the statement, “this funding supports the Nigerian Distribution Sector
Recovery Program (DISREP) aimed at improving the financial and technical
performance of the DisCos”.
The Distribution Sector Recovery Program is designed to enhance the
financial and technical operations of the DisCos through capital investment and
the financing of key components of their Performance Improvement Plans (PIPs),
which have been approved by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission
(NERC).
Key areas of improvement include:
• Bulk procurement of customer/retail meters and meter data
management systems.
• Implementation of a Data Aggregation Platform (DAP).
• Strengthening governance and transparency within the DisCos.
• Program Components
• The DISREP comprises two main components:
• Program for Results (PforR):
• Allocation: $345 million
• Purpose: Support the implementation of selected PIP components.
Others include
• Implementation: Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE)
• Investment Project Financing (IPF):
• Allocation: $155 million
The Purpose is to finance the procurement of meters, a Data Aggregation
Platform, and Technical Assistance.
The DISREP loan, particularly the Investment Project Financing (IPF) component, is expected to significantly benefit the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) by:
• Closing the metering gap
• Reducing Aggregate Technical, Collection, and Commercial (ATC&C)
losses
• Improving remittances and liquidity for the DisCos
• Enhancing the reliability of power supply
• Increasing transparency and accountability within the DisCos.
The $500 million DISREP loan from the World Bank offers concessional financing
with more favorable terms than commercial bank loans. This will enable the DisCos to:
1. Invest in critical distribution infrastructure.
2. Improve ATC&C losses.
3. Increase power supply reliability.
4. Achieve financial sustainability in the power sector.
5. Enhance transparency and accountability.
The statement further explained that significant progress has been made in the preparation of the DISREP Program, with several key milestones achieved, and approval by the Federal Executive
Council (FEC) on August 3, 2022. execution of the Financing Agreement by the
Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning, and the World Bank,
adoption of the Program Operations Manual (POM) by BPE and TCN, obtained
Legal Opinion from the Attorney-General of the Federation, Execution of the
Subsidiary Loan Agreement, effective declaration of the DISREP Program on
January 31, 2023, inauguration of the DISREP Technical Committee on May 6,
2024, inclusion in the Federal Government Borrowing Plan, approved by the
Senate Committee on May 16, 2024.
To ensure repayment assurance, the Bureau of Public Enterprises sought and
obtained approval from the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC)
and the National Council on Privatisation (NCP) for a structured repayment
hierarchy.
The structure prioritizes payments including, Statutory Payments (Taxes), Repayment of CBN market loans, Market obligations , Repayment of DISREP loan and DisCos’ net revenue.
This structured repayment plan aims to mitigate risks associated with repayment
uncertainty and defaults, with regulatory sanctions imposed for any defaults.
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