The National Council on Privatisation on Thursday granted approval to the Bureau of Public Enterprise to proceed with engagements with Transcorp Power Consortium to finalise the Performance Agreements for the sale of Afam Power Plc and Afam III Fast Power Limited.
The initiative aims to regularise outstanding conditions and operational targets in the post-acquisition plan, ensuring the commercial viability of the plants.
Chairman of NCP, Vice President Kashim Shettima, meanwhile, urged a major overhaul of Nigeria’s privatization agenda, calling for a transition from mere sales of state-owned enterprises to asset optimisation aimed at powering the nation’s trillion-dollar economy ambition.
The approval followed a memorandum presented by BPE Director General Ayodeji Ariyo Gbeleyi during the Council’s third meeting at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
Gbeleyi disclosed that the Federal Government had completed the sale of Afam Power plant, with N53.9 billion collected as privatization proceeds.
“While the asset has been fully handed to the core investor, Transcorp Power Consortium, the government also restructured its transaction this year,” Gbeleyi noted.
He explained that following the sale finalised in November 2020, executing the Performance Agreements, a standard post-acquisition procedure in Nigeria’s power sector, is essential.
These agreements outline the investor’s commitment to achieving specific performance targets, such as enhancing the plant’s operational capacity within a set timeframe.
“With the execution of the PAs to regularise the transactions, the BPE can now commence the mandatory post-privatisation monitoring of the core investor’s performance obligations,” Gbeleyi said.
The DG added that the Council also extensively reviewed its own performance, as well as that of BPE in 2025, highlighting achievements including the unbundling of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN).
“As you heard at the meeting, the unbundling of the Transmission Company of Nigeria into two entities, Nigerian Independent System Operator, as well as the Transmission Service Provider, was achieved in the course of this year,” he stated.
Before the approval, VP Shettima reiterated the need for a fundamental shift in Nigeria’s privatization strategy.
“There is a need to shift from simply selling state-owned enterprises to asset optimisation designed to power the nation’s trillion-dollar economy ambition,” he said.
Calling the new direction a “critical necessity,” the Vice President emphasised the importance of discipline and vision to steer the country away from inefficiency.
“Our aspiration to build a trillion-dollar economy is a destination that demands discipline, vision, and absolute adherence to the compass produced by this Council. Without such a compass, our economic projections would amount to nothing more than an exercise in theory formation,” VP Shettima said.
He proposed a future where the NCP would focus on unlocking the value of Nigeria’s latent assets, which he described as an immense reservoir of national wealth, including underutilised land, dormant real estate, and untapped intellectual property.
“The necessity of this Council has never been in doubt. We replace bureaucratic bottlenecks with commercial agility, relieve government of the costly burden of subsidising inefficient state-owned enterprises, and attract vital investment,” he added.
To achieve this, VP Shettima directed the Council to explore modern models such as long-term concessions, asset-backed securitisation, and core investor sales tied to strict performance benchmarks.
He also warned about the importance of transaction integrity.
“There must be zero tolerance for ambiguities to avoid costly litigation and to send a powerful signal of stability and seriousness to the international investment community,” he said.
Finance Minister and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, commended the BPE team for its dedication to quality and best practices. Contributions were also made by Minister of Power, Chief Adebayo Adelabu; Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Atiku Bagudu; Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi SAN; and CBN Governor Olayemi Cardoso.
