THE Federal Government is to increase its representation on the Boards of the Discos in order to ensure transparency in their operations as well as improve their performance.

Amina Tukur Othman, Head Public Communications Unit of the Bureau of Public Enterprises, BPE, said in a statement that the exercise would be concluded and implemented on or before July 15, 2019.

It explained that in furtherance of the move of the FGN to increase its representation on the Boards of the Discos, the BPE summoned a meeting of the Shareholders of the Discos on 26^th June 2019 and that it was agreed that all the activities outlined during the discussions which would formalise the increase in the FGN’s representation on the Boards of the Discos would be concluded and implemented on or before the 15th of July 2019.

The statement added that the Bureau at the meeting reiterated the purpose of the reform and privatisation in the Nigerian power sector to address efficiency gaps and attract much needed private sector capital and management into the power sector. This reform was expected to transform the sector to meet the country’s electricity demand.

According to the statement, part of the requirements for the aforementioned reform was the entrenchment of a Corporate Governance structure, which provided for the Core Investor to have six “A” Directors and the Bureau one “B” Director.

“This was done to minimize the representation of the FGN on the Boards and to grant the Core Investors sufficient control of the management and operations of the Discos.

“In view of the need to strengthen Corporate Governance of the companies, the FGN decided to increase its representation on the Boards by 2, B Directors, given its 40% shareholding. The objective is to ensure transparency in their operations as well as improve their performance,” the statement said.

It stated that the Director General of the BPE stressed the point that this process has been on for a long while and the delay in implementation by the Discos was not acceptable to the federal government.

“Subsequently, all parties agreed to the proposal as it is in good faith to strengthen Corporate Governance of the companies,” the statement added.

– July 2, 2019 @ 10:49 GMT |