$33m Azura Power Deal: House C’ttee Invites Ministers of Finance, Power, BPP Others 

Juliet Akoje in Abuja. 

The House of Representatives’ Committee on Finance has invited the Ministers of Power, Finance, heads of Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC), Nigeria Bulk Electricity Transmission (NBET), Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) and Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) over the $33 million Azura power purchase agreement.

The Chairman of the House Committee on Finance, Hon. James Faleke, while investigating alleged breach of agreement and perennial power failure in the country, invited the heads of all the agencies in Abuja on Tuesday.

Faleke noted that the agencies will be brought before the committee to explain their role in the power deal, adding that the appropriate date would be communicated to the  agencies invited. 

The committee had on August 19 revealed that the country was committed to a monthly payment of $33 million in a take or pay deal.

The committee disclosed that Azura power plant had not been able to deliver the 450 megawatts of electricity agreed with TCN to the national grid since the contract was signed.

Faleke consequently told the Managing Director, TCN, Mr. Sule Abdulazeez, to present its budget allocation from 2002, the contract awarded and the certificates by TCN on power transmission line.

He said that if Azura would demand money in dollars from power being generated, Nigeria should also demand money from Azura in dollars for power being used from the national grid.

The committee however asked TCN to provide it with its internally generated revenue (IGR) from 2010 including its audit report, while also picking holes on the IGR being spent by TCN outside budgetary provision.