#now called Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

darmelaray · 5 years ago

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upshotre · 5 years ago

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EFCC begins probe of Obasanjo govt’s $16bn power project

THE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has begun the probe of the $16 billion power project of the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo. There had been conflicting figures on the exact cost of the project as some people put it at $16 billion while others say it is $13.8 billion. It was gathered last night that the anti-graft agency may arrest key contractors involved in the power project scam which extended beyond the Obasanjo administration into those of former Presidents Umaru Yar’Adua and Goodluck Jonathan. It was also learnt that about 18 top former and serving public officers, including two ex-ministers, may be questioned. Also likely to be interrogated by the EFCC are some top officials of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). Preliminary investigation revealed that Rockson Engineering Limited got a chunk of the contracts worth about $2 billion. The findings revealed that the transactions involving the firms implicated in the power contracts were characterised by absence of due diligence. A reliable source in the anti-graft commission said a team of crack detectives had been put in place to interrogate the people involved in the scam. The source said: “The operatives of the EFCC have launched a massive investigation into the alleged $16 billion power scam between 2006 and 2011 just as concerted efforts are being made to recover the humongous funds allegedly diverted into private pockets by different firms involved in the power project. “The whole power project is $16 billion and anchored on generation, transmission and distribution. “The project is being handled by the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC). “It is instructive to note that the NDPHC belongs to the three tiers of government, namely the Federal Government, state and local governments. “Investigators also discovered that most of the firms that secured contracts under the power project collected huge sums in naira and dollars but did not perform up to 30 per cent before abandoning the project. “Incidentally, most of the payments took place during the regimes of former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo, the late President Umaru Yar’Adua and Goodluck Jonathan. “The first amount released from the Excess Crude Account was about $8.3 billion.” Another source claimed that some of the contractors will soon be invited by the EFCC for interrogation. The source said: “A team of crack detectives has been raised by the commission to get to the roots of the power deal. Some of the key contractors will soon be quizzed. “One of the major contractors – Rockson Engineering Ltd- is being allegedly taken over by the Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria. “From documents available to the commission, Rockson got four contracts and it received over $2 billion in the following tranches: $180 million; $220 million; $240 million and $480 million. “Rockson also received questionable $11 million and another N150 million.These payments are now under investigation. “These huge funds were released to Rockson for power generation alone. “Investigation further revealed that despite the release of the above to Rockson, the firm was only able to execute 30 per cent of the construction. “The firm also claimed that it imported certain materials since 2013 and lying in Onne Port without clearing.” It was also gathered last night that the EFCC will look into alleged lapses by some top officials of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). The source added: “Lack of due diligence pervaded the transaction while certain officials of the CBN are under probe over certain regulatory flaws. “Instead of opening Letter of Credit (LOC) in the name of the manufacturers of the equipment for the power project, operatives discovered that the LOC was opened in the name of Rockson. “Investigation also revealed that instead of the LOC being put in place in Form M (tangibles and specific), the LOC was opened in Form A (intangibles like school fees, medical bills, etc). An official in the media unit of the EFCC only said: “We will do everything to recover the huge funds and prosecute indicted officials accordingly.” Investigation revealed that the EFCC might also review issues in the report of the House of Representatives Committee. The House actually recommended 18 top former and public officers, including two ex-ministers, for investigation by anti-graft agencies, especially EFCC and ICPC. Many salient issues were raised for investigation by the House Committee, which was headed by Hon. Ndudi Elumelu. The issues raised by the Elumelu Committee were as follows: All NIPP payments were made without following Due Process No meaningful progress was made in the execution of power contracts Officials rushed to pay contractors in full even before engineering design for the projects had been completed and approved NIPP contracts were not only overpriced in comparison with PHCN contracts, they were also wide off the mark Widespread evidence of systematic over-scoping of projects in order to inflate costs both in PHCN and NIPP NIPP Distribution EPC contracts were awarded at costs averaging about 10 times the norm when compared to PHCN contracts The Ndudi Elumelu Committee was put in place by the House on January 31, 2008 to look into how much was spent on power projects. In its report, the committee said that about $13.278 billion was spent on power projects between 1999 and 2007. The committee recommended termination of 13 contracts and review of 10 projects. About 15 contracting and consulting companies were asked to be investigated by the appropriate agencies. The report reads in part: “From the oral and documentary evidence, it was clearly established that the total expenditure in the power sector during the period 1999-2007 was US$13, 278,937,409.94billion. “Indeed, had the supplementary budget of the power sector in 2007 been implemented, the expenditure could then have been over $16billion reported by the Honourable Speaker of the House of Representatives. “There are also unfunded commitments to the tune of US$7.265billion for NIPP projects as at May 29, 2007. “There is another US $1billion for PHCN capital projects awarded between 2000 and 2007, which have been captured in the 2008 Appropriation Act. “Additionally, the total commitment of the NNPC and its Joint Venture partners(of which the Federal Government, through the NNPC has an average of 51% interest) towards IPP power plants, gas sources development, gas transmission and metering of JV IPPs, PHCN power plants and NIPP power plants, according to the submission of the acting GMD of the NNPC is US$7billion, out of which about US$1.62billion has been expensed, leaving outstanding commitments of over US$5.5billion out of which the Federal Government will provide about US$3billion. “Recognition of these unfunded commitments would bring the total (funded and unfunded) FGN expenditure commitments in the power sector to over US$24.5billion between 1999 and 2007. “From the assessment done during the Committee’s tour of the project sites, it is safe to conclude that no meaningful progress was made in the execution of power contracts. “It is curious and quite strange that officials rush to pay contractors in full even before engineering design for the projects have been completed and approved. “NIPP contracts were not only overpriced in comparison with PHCN contracts, they are also wide off the mark when viewed against comparable power stations in several parts of the world. “A comparable review of the cost of power installations in varied regions of the world such as South Korea, Saudi Arabia, U.S.A, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Mexico and Chile showed that $10billion could have built plants to produce between 5,000 to 6,000 MW of electricity. But this amount failed to do so in Nigeria. “Unfortunately, all NIPP payments were made without following Due Process. In its place, a process called ‘Waiver of Due Process Certification for Payment’ was adopted in flagrant disregard of Due Process Policy, thus paving the way for dubious and highly risky payments to contractors and consultants by the Federal Government of Nigeria. “The committee found hard and widespread evidence of systematic over scoping of projects in order to inflate costs both in PHCN and NIPP. “At least 15 transmission lines and substation projects have been identified. For example, the New Haven-Ikot-Ekpene 2x330kv Double Circuit Line was over-scoped by 49% whilst the Afam-Ikot Ekpene 330kv line was over-scoped by more than 100%. “The estimated aggregate cost inflation identified so far for transmission projects is over N20billion and this is recoverable from contractors. “A clear example of project cost inflation is the proposed supply of 9No GE frame 9 gas turbines and auxiliaries at the cost of N185billion($1.55billion) awarded to Rockson International. “In comparison, it is noteworthy that GE supplied 18No turbines of similar specification previously at about $404million, including cost of Technical Assistance (TA) services and Long-Term Service agreements (LTSA). The implicit cost inflation on the additional turbines and associated services exceeds $1.145billion. “Another example is the costing of the so-called change-order provisions for Alaoji Power Plant (Phase I) at a highly-questionable amount of US$123million. “NIPP Distribution EPC contracts were awarded at costs averaging about 10 times the norm when compared to PHCN contracts costs for similar projects in the past five years. This 1,000% cost inflation of the NIPP Distribution EPC work scopes translates to an aggregate overpricing of over N50billion.” Regarding the funding of NIPP projects, the panel says: “The contracts were not funded from any Appropriation Act. What this means is that the National Assembly had no knowledge of the source of the funds of the NIPP projects. All the government functionaries who testified referred to what they termed Excess Crude Account as the source of funding. “The Committee was not able to determine the level of involvement of the National Assembly in the decision to set up the Excess Crude account. What the committee established is that it was illegal and unconstitutional for such a fund to be established without legislative authorization. Sections 80(3 and 4) of the 1999 Constitution which states clearly. On the role of the CBN, the panel’s report added: “The committee is perturbed by the failure of the CBN Governor to provide information in respect of Letters of Credit opened and where the money involving over $1billion has been kept all these years “It is necessary to note that the Central Bank of Nigeria refused to provide the Committee with schedule of utilization and draw-downs on Letters of Credit as well as interest accrued on unutilized balances. “The committee strongly believes that these monies might be on fixed deposit accounts with some banks. “In view of the apparent unwillingness of the CBN to cooperate with the Committee in this matter or provide the Committee with a proper account of withdrawals from Excess Crude account, the balance on the account, where the monies in respect of the unutilized Letters of Credit are kept and interest that have accrued thereto, we recommend that the EFCC be invited to investigate the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation and the Central Bank of Nigeria in respect of the above issues relating to Letters of Credit opened. Read the full article

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toptecharena · 6 years ago

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The workers, under the auspices of Senior Staff Association of Electricity and Allied Companies (SSAEAC), are accusing Mohammed of high handedness and anti-labour practices.

Electricity Workers Nationwide on Tuesday in Abuja threatened to shut down power, unless the Federal Government immediately sack the Transmission Company of Nigeria’s (TCN), Managing Director, Usman Mohammed.

The workers, under the auspices of Senior Staff Association of Electricity and Allied Companies (SSAEAC), are accusing Mohammed of high handedness and anti-labour practices.

The union threatened that it would ground the entire power structure in the country, if government refused to heed its advice to relief the managing director of his appointment.

The workers’ threat followed the alleged administrative irregularities and high handedness of the Mohammed-led management.

It is recalled that TCN emerged from the defunct National Electric Power Authority (NEPA), following the merger of the Transmission and Operations sectors on April 1, 2004.

TCN represents one of the 18 unbundled business units under the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) and was issued a transmission license on July, 1, 2006.

The development prompted workers of the organisation to picket the TCN premise where they disrupted vehicular and commercial activities for several hours.

The workers, who spoke through Umar Abubakar, SSAEAC’s General Secretary, accused Mohammed of allegedly flouting most of the administrative procedures, which they claimed were inimical to their welfare.

According to them, the MD allegedly single handedly conducted examinations for staff due for promotion without recourse to input from other management staff.

They further alleged that the MD had defaulted in remitting appropriate taxes to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), a development that also led to the sealing of the organisation even before the workers staged their protest.

The workers also claimed the MD had hijacked some funds provided by the World Bank for projects in the power sector, including his alleged interference in union activities by his attempt to polarize the union.

They also alleged that the MD cleared a large consignment of electrical materials from foreign donors at the ports but failed to deliver same to the warehouse of the organisation for proper accountability, before distribution to the relevant sections.

The protesters said efforts by the Minister of Labour and Employment, Sen. Chris Ngige and his counterpart in the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, to intervene in the matter, proved abortive as Mohammed failed to turn up in several meetings.

“Our grievances stem from the fact that the MD on his own handled the promotion exercise and started to conduct it in his own way through the aid of consultants that to us is not the ideal process.

“The motive is that he is not prepared to promote any staff, especially those who are due and most qualified for promotion.

” He probably wants to pick people, who are his boys and loyal to him, that is our suspicion.

“We have it on good authority that there were some container loads of equipment that were cleared from the ports but was not taken to the store, this again is not the proper thing to do for accountability.

“His own style of leadership is management of dishing out orders; if he is not around, nothing takes place.

”What then are the functions of the Executive Directors or General Managers?

“To cap it all and to prove his incompetence, the FIRS has sealed off our office over tax default.

”How can a responsible MD claim to be in charge and this is happening,” their allegations read in part.

The protesters were seen chanting solidarity songs against the management, carrying placards with inscriptions such as, “we say no to tax fraud, “sack UG Mohammed now to guarantee hope for power sector, “no to nepotism”

Efforts made by newsmen to get reactions to the allegations failed, as the embattled MD neither picked his calls nor responded to text messages sent to his cell-phone.

Go to Source Author: Pulse News Agency Local by NAN Looming Blackout: Electricity workers threaten shut down of power, demand sack of MD The workers, under the auspices of Senior Staff Association of Electricity and Allied Companies (SSAEAC), are accusing Mohammed of high handedness and anti-labour practices.

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rustyh706151-blog · 7 years ago

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The Gathering Storm

Private participation in business enterprises is considered the lifeline of industries across the world, but the reverse seems to be the case in the country.

This untoward development, experts sayis traced to poor consideration for labour laws and imperfect implementation strategies, which in some cases leaves the privatised firms in worse conditions than they were before being privatised.

The privatisation of the defunct Nigerian Telecommunication Company Limited (NITEL), Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), and even the ports concession exercise, which reduced the workforce of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) from 14, 000 to 3, 000, 11 years ago, all still reverberate with sad tales till date.

For the NPA workers, testy times are not yet over as the Nigerian Ports and Harbours Authority (NPHA) Bill, currently before the National Assembly, meant to repeal the Nigerian Ports Authority Act, Cap 126 LFN 2004, has raised the level of anxiety among port workers several notches higher.

Consequently, Maritime workers have raised the alarm, alleging that the bill as presently drafted, does not protect their interests, in other words, it is silent on employees’ fate on transition from NPA to the new entity.

Not long ago, the workers in a warning strike, shutdown the country’s ports for six hours in order to establish their grouse, and also warn against the dangers of ceding harbour operations to private entities.

They equally threatened to resort to more serious industrial actions, if the National Assembly fails to yield to their demands by addressing their grievances.

The Journey So Far The Nigerian Ports and Harbours Authority Bill, which summarily seeks to repeal the NPA Act, is expected to create a leeway for the privatisation of ports’ harbour services, and to reduce government’s stake in ports operations, but maritime labour unions insists its intent and purposes have grave consequences to the security of the nation, job security, among others.

The Senate has specifically expressed hopes that if the new arrangement pans out well, it is capable of getting the country out of the current economic downturn, hence the importance both arms of the National Assembly accord it.

The bill, which was first read on the floor of the Senate on Thursday, May 26, 2016, and presented for a second reading on Thursday, September 29, 2016, is expected to provide an institutional framework for the ownership, management, operation, development and control of ports and harbours, and ensure the integrity, efficiency and safety of the ports, based on accountability, competition, fairness and transparency, and also encourage greater private sector participation in the maritime industry, through investment in infrastructures.

According to its promoters, the bill, which is sponsored by Senator Ossai Nicholas Ossai, also seeks to promote and safeguard the country’s competitiveness in trade objectives towards maximal profitability and stability; transform the maritime sector and promote both internal and international trade, and create adequate enabling environment for private sector operation.

Additionally, it is also expected to engender increased seaport capacity and productivity; reduce congestion at ship-to-shore interface; reduce city congestion; lower environmental impact; improve asset utilisation for port, road and railway transport providers, improve transport productivity; inter modal capacity, and lower transport costs.

Furthermore, the bill, which has been referred to the Senate Committee on Marine Transport for further legislative action, is also expected to be a major driver for the economic recapitalisation, especially with the quest to transmute from a mono-sectoral economy to a multi-sectoral one.

Maritime Workers Cry Out The Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN), and the maritime branch of Senior Staff Association of Communications, Transportation and Corporations (SSACTAC), (an affiliate of the Nigeria Labour Congress) are of the belief that the bill would not favour their members, who are in the service of the NPA.

Insisting that the bill will expose their members to job insecurity in the final analysis, the fuming unionists regretted that they were not invited to make any input into it by the National Assembly during debate on it.

It was in reaction to this that the peeved maritime workers recently downed tools for six hours to express their grievances. Expectedly, that warning strike led to the collapse of ports operations nationwide, and the loss of billions of naira by the Federal Government.

The protest, which took place simultaneously across all seaports in the country, also held at the Headquarters of the NPA in Marina, Lagos State.

President General of MWUN, Comrade Adewale Adeyanju, in his explanation said maritime workers embarked on the protest to kick against it since they were not carried along in the bill, which has passed first and second reading.

Adeyanju noted that if the bill is passed into law in its current form, it would lead to massive job loss among members of the union, as Item Six of the Second Schedule states that not all staff of the NPA would be absorbed into the proposed Nigerian Ports and Harbours Authority.

He alleged that the purpose of the bill is to strip workers of their commonwealth, through further concession of harbour operations in the guise of amending the NPA Act.

"In other words, the bill would send a large number of Nigerian Ports Authority staff into the labour market, including dockworkers, ship workers and seamen. When debate on the bill commenced, we were not called upon, as we would have dialogued with the government. So, that is why we are fighting for the rights of the workers.

"What we have done is just a warning; it is an awareness creation exercise for us to tell the world that we were not carried along in this discussion. If the government wants to do the needful, it should call us to a roundtable to discuss the matter," he said.

The union leader, who also noted that the bill does not make provision for who will pay off workers that would be sacked once the port is sold off, urged the lawmakers to allow the bill die naturally because it also posts a security risk to the nation at large.

Adeyanju said: "Remember the recent discovery of a container at the Tin Can Island Port with 440 cartons of arms and ammunition.

This is one of the reasons that we are sending a very strong signal to the authorities that this bill must not the see the light of day.

"Experience has taught us a lesson, when the ports were concessioned 11 years ago, we were told that nobody would lose his/her job. The NPA before concession had 14, 000 workers, but after the exercise, the workforce was reduced to 3,000. So, if this happens again, the NPA would go into extinction because there is not going to be a collector agent to the Nigerian Ports and Harbours Authority, who would regulate and supervise them and the security of the nation’s seaports," he said.

President of SSACTAC, Benson Adegbeyeni, alleged that lawmakers were being cruel to Nigerian workers, who voted them into power as the bill failed to take care of NPA workers, who have all their lives worked for the government.

Describing the port concession of 2006 as a failure, Adegbeyeni maintained that same promises were made prior to the concessioning exercise, but they have remained unfulfilled till date.

"The lawmakers we voted are trying to shortchange Nigerians of their future. During the 2006 concession exercise, the government was not sincere with the promises it made and many workers were thrown into the labour market. This bill does not make provision for those who have spent all their lives working for the NPA.

"We have seen similar situations in NITEL, which was also privatised, but today where is NITEL? The same thing happened to NEPA, same thing happened to NPA. The NPA of 10 years ago compared with that of today is an eyesore. Government promised us that with concession in, the port would work better, but the reverse is the case today, and even access roads to the Lagos ports are in a terrible state," he said.

In Port Harcourt, Rivers State, the protesting workers during the strike blocked roads leading to the two seaports – Onne Port and Rivers Port Complex wielding placards, some of which read: This bill will put our nation in danger, Harbour is not for sale, Promoters of Nigerian Ports and Harbours Authority Bill 2015 are out to milk the economy dry. Stop them now!’

Tunde Agboola, a member of SSACTAC maintains that: "The bill obviously is not in the interest of Nigerians because millions of maritime workers will lose their jobs if the seaports are privatised. This will affect the economy because not just the NPA workers will lose their jobs, dockworkers, seafarers and ship workers will all do."

Meanwhile, the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) has thrown its weight behind MWUN, in the struggle against the bill.

Its national president, Ayuba Waba, noted that the bill if passed into law would be a repetition of the ports concession exercise, which he claimed has failed so far, then it should not pass.

He argued that the concession of harbours function of NPA to private hands, apart from its attendant negative effects on the economy, also portends grave national security risk and tantamount to loss of national pride.

He said already, the NLC has taken over the fight and has scheduled a meeting with promoters of the bill. He however, vowed that if the lawmakers fail to kill the bill, workers all over the country would stage a protest to the National Assembly.

Experts’ Verdict The Chairman of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Prince Olayiwola Shittu, thinks the bill should be considered in the interest of the larger society.

According to him, "The same complaints were made by maritime workers during the concession, at the end of the day, we did not see the effect. So, the Nigeria Ports and Harbour Authority Bill should be considered in the interest of the larger society, and not in the interest of influential individuals," he said.

Legal practitioner with Maritime & Commercial Law Partners, Chief Osuala Emmanuel Nwagbara, who opined that the bill would also lead to job losses in the sector said: "We have to balance this with the benefits that the ports development programme will also bring. Port users complain of high cost of port services, inefficient port services, disorderly port environment, unpredictable government policies etc. My honest assessment is that port concessioning, if anything, has shown that when properly harnessed and managed would bring prosperity to this country. Yes, I think it is needful to further invite the private sector to participate in port operations in Nigeria. But we have to take a critical look at the concession agreement. We also have to look at how many employments it would create and how many opportunities would further be created in the industry. All of these we have to balance to really appreciate why we should accept the concession."

Proffering the way forward, he urged all parties concerned to work together and look at the issues again from a passionate point of view in order to arrive at an acceptable position.

President, National Council of Managing Directors on Customs Licensed Customs Agent (NCMDLCA), Lucky Amiwero, on his part said since the ports were concessioned in 2006, all the things that workers are canvassing for now, ought to have been canvassed for 11 years ago.

He said the ports have been going through operational concession, but the legal concession is what the government is trying to put in place now, so that they can get things done properly.

Despite the position of by maritime workers, some stakeholders still believe that a lot still need to be done to encourage greater private sector participation in the maritime industry, through investment in infrastructures, transformation of the sector, promotion of internal and international trade, and the creation of adequate enabling environment for private sector operation.

This is all-important in the light of the revelation earlier in the week that no fewer than two million containers laden with various cargoes worth over N5 trillion are currently stranded at the Lagos Port Complex, due to the inability of importers to evacuate them.

As many of the cargoes continue to incur demurrage after enjoying three rent-free days from the day of discharge, the containers continue to accumulate due to the blockade of ports’ access roads for repairs.

This situation, according to experts, portends grave danger for the country’s economy, as it will trigger inflation and further discourage importers from choosing the country as the port of destination since trucks can no longer go in and out of the various terminals inside the port, without huge efforts at traffic control.

A clearing agent, Alade Omolaja said: "This is the first time in 11 years that congestion is happening and vessel queue is forming at the ports."

The situation, he insists has invalidated Executive Order on Port Decongestion and government’s initiative on Ease of Doing Business in Nigeria.

However, a recent report by leading professional services firm, Deloitte Nigeria, tends to disagree with maritime workers that the concession done 11 years ago brought about job losses in the sector. In fact, it is of the opinion that one million jobs have been created directly and indirectly in the ports since after the exercise.

Giving an evaluation of the Nigeria ports concession agreement, it said, an evaluation or benchmark of the Nigeria port concession agreement with the standards contained in a report by World Conference on Transport Research Society (WCTRS), revealed that the Nigerian port concession agreement conforms to over 80 per cent of the identified elements and risks. The Nigerian concession agreement is in alignment with the standard concession elements, but partially aligned when considering the risks aspects of the agreement, which are categorised into commercial risk; exchange rate risk; policy risk; and tariffs.

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