Senate Chief Whip, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu has recommeded eight companies to be created across the country for the purpose of generating, transmitting and distributing power supply across the country .
He said each of them would be merged with a foreign company that would own a substantial percentage of the shares .
Kalu spoke during the Senate plenary on Tuesday.
“If Nigeria is indeed ready to have an improved power supply, it is important to create eight zones that will generate and transmit power across the nation in partnership with competent foreign companies.
“At all times of our privatization, it wasn’t properly done. I remember writing a paper in 1999 and suggesting that the generating companies and distribution companies should be eight . And for the transmission in each of the zones, there should be eight companie doing the generation , transmission and distribution but government rejected my proposal.
“Secondly, when they were privatizing, this privatization were given to friends and cronies. They were not given to people who can manage it efficiently.
“I advised when they were privatizing that Nigerian companies should be given 50 percent , Federal Government should maintain probably 25 percent and Japanese gas companies or any other company who wanted to be partners will take 25 % so as to get the investment.” He said.
The former Abia Governor expressed total regret that despite privatization, the federal government still spends huge sums of money in the sector, calling on the government to immediately revisit privatization of power sector.
According to Kalu, friendship on national assets is inimical to the growth of the country, insisting that the companies have not posted any guarantee bill.
He called on federal government to take decisive steps to ensure that the power sector is repositioned for optimum performance.
He also called for a quarterly update of the National Assembly by all the Nigeria companies involved in power generation, transmission and distribution to know the level of progress recorded.
