Northern Coalition Rejects Planned Privatisation of NDPHC

Adedayo Akinwale

The Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG) has kicked against the privatisation of the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC), describing it as part of the several schemes to cripple the North economically by shortchanging it in the process.

The spokesperson of the group, Mr. Abdul-Azeez Suleiman, stated this yesterday while addressing a press conference in Abuja, saying the planned privatisation of Calabar, Ihovbor, Olorunsogo and Geregu Power Plants by NDPHC would be resisted by the North.

He said having studied the proposal carefully, “CNG has concluded that it was the most dubious, unreasonable and unacceptable act of injustice that is being perpetrated against Nigerians collectively and northerners in particular.”

It noted that the assets under consideration do not belong exclusively to the federal government but the three tiers of government.

The coalition stressed that the current privatisation plot, therefore, reneges on the initial understanding that after certain years of piloting the projects in Southern Nigeria, the assets were to be sold and the proceeds reinvested in setting up hydro generation assets in some parts of the northern states for similar length of time.

Suleiman said: “To categorically declare that this move and indeed any other move that expressly or impliedly seek to undermine the northern economy by deliberately reneging on mutually agreed terms stand unacceptable, and shall be vehemently resisted.

“We demand an immediate and unconditional discontinuation of this or any subsequent move to privatise the said assets, and the immediate and complete reversal as well as observance of the initial agreement to revolve the power generation projects to the North.”

The group further declared that the North would go to any length to challenge the continuance of “this dubious plan without involving the region in the discourse to determine, in the context of the applicable policy, legal and regulatory framework, the appropriate legal framework or legislation under which the transactions will be implemented.”

It also called on all critical stakeholders and the northern public to raise their voices in the defense of northern interest against “this round of fresh scheme by those who have made it a duty to ensure that the North remains backwards by undermining its economic and social fabrics to stimulate and encourage rampant poverty and social problems under various guises.”