BY Bunmi Aduloju
Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo has inaugurated the 240 megawatts (MW) Afam three-fast power plant in Rivers state.
TransAfam Power Limited, a subsidiary of Transcorp Group, is the core investor in the 966MW Afam Power Plc and Afam three-fast power — jointly referred to as the Afam generation company (GenCo).
The Afam GenCo power plant is located in Okoloma village, Oyigbo local government area (LGA) of the state.
The power firm was privatised in 2017 following the approval of the national council on privatisation (NCP).
In 2020, the Transcorp Power Consortium completed the acquisition of the GenCo at N105 billion.
Speaking at the commissioning ceremony on Tuesday, Osinbajo, representing President Muhammadu Buhari, lauded Transcorp Group’s strides in the power sector.
“The last few days, I must say, belong to Transcorp Power because at the same meeting of the NCP the council approved Transcorp Power consortium as preferred bidder for the acquisition of the Abuja disco,” he said.
The politician also commended the efforts of the Rivers state government as well as the Afam paramount ruler and host communities “for working constructively with the power companies to ensure continued peace and security in the Afam cluster, without which we wouldn’t be here today commissioning this project”.
On his part, Abubakar Aliyu, the minister of power, who was represented by Temitope Fashedemi, permanent secretary of the ministry, applauded Transcorp Group for its positive contributions to improving electricity generation in Nigeria.
“Afam Plc was taken over from the ministry of power with a capacity of 70MW. What I hear today is that, capacity exceeding 100MW is being recovered from the plant,” he said.
“I would like to commend Mr. Tony Elumelu for driving investment in the Nigerian power sector across the value chain, your team has spoken to me the best in the sector so far.”
Also speaking at the commissioning, Tony Elumelu, chairman of Transcorp Group, stressed on the critical role power plays in Nigeria’s overall development.
The entrepreneur and serial investor described power as the single most critical factor for lifting people out of poverty and enabling job creation.
“We all know the importance of power in Nigeria. We all experience the consequences of our power deficit — the implications for our people, our businesses, our schools, hospitals and institutions – our national destiny,” he said.
“Therefore, I am so proud today that we have been able to bring together so many key stakeholders.”
Elumelu further pledged to continue “to do well and do good”.
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