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Six Nigerian and international firms have submitted their Expressions of Interest in 17 out of the 18 successor companies of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria.

The companies are African Finance Corporation, CPCS Transcorp, Goldman Sachs/Stanbic IBTC, IPA Energy, Lazard/UBA and Standard Chartered Bank.

The Director-General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises, Ms Bolanle Onagoruwa, said in a statement on Tuesday, that the six firms met the August 23 deadline set by the Bureau for the Expression of Interest in the 18 companies.

Onagoruwa also disclosed that the 18 companies would be sold before May 2011. She added that the second phase of the power sector reform would kick off what she called the “electricity market.”

The BPE chief said, “The privatisation of the 18 successor companies of the PHCN is expected to be concluded by May 2011.

“The next stage of the reform is to start an electricity market. The reform involves some level of liberalisation, as we will request investors to enter the market for the full privatisation of the PHCN.

“We have started the process of engaging consultants through the Quality Based Selection method

“A transaction advisory consortium shall be led by a financial institution that possesses an excellent global investment banking pedigree.

“Other members of the consortium shall include a Nigerian financial institution with considerable investment banking experience, a Nigerian law firm with strong transaction advisory competencies, and accounting, engineering, and other relevant technical firms.

“A consortium must have considerable experience of electricity sector project finance and privatisation, globally and in Africa.”

She explained that the Request For Proposals would be sent to the firms this week while they would be expected to respond within five weeks.

The Federal Government plans to sell 51 per cent of its stakes in 17 out of the 18 successor companies of the PHCN.

Eleven of the companies are into distribution while six are in the power generation business.

This plan is contained in the Federal Government’s roadmap to power sector reform, which was unveiled on Thursday by President Goodluck Jonathan.

The Transmission Company of Nigeria, which will not be sold by the Federal Government, will be managed by the private sector.

Jonathan, at the unveiling of the roadmap in Lagos, had said that government was preparing to leave the power sector in the hands of private operators.

He explained that the government would retain the transmission grid and regulate the operators of the generating and distribution companies.

The President also assured that power would become stable in 2012, the year that independent power producers would add 5,000 megawatts to the national grid.

Meanwhile, the Federal Government has called on electricity workers to ensure that their capacity to deliver electricity in the country was not constrained by “other considerations.”

The Minister of State for Power, Mr. Nuhu Wya, made the appeal when he paid an unscheduled inspection visit to power stations in the Lagos territory on Monday.

He told the members of staff and management of the Aja-Lekki-Alagbon Power Centre that President Jonathan directed him to undertake the visit to ascertain the immediate challenges facing the centres and to assure them of government’s sincerity in dealing with the challenges.

The minister said the Federal Government would remove budgetary constraints limiting the system from generating at full capacity.