After surviving a long and tortuous wait to take over the $3.2bn Aluminium Smelter Company of Nigeria (ALSCON), the Nigerian-American consortium, BFIGroup, which won the bid for the plant since 2004, has finally commenced the process of restarting operations at the moribund plant.
In a landmark event described by the Federal Government as epoch-making, the company which emerged the preferred bidder for majority stakeholding in ALSCON since June 2004 signed a partnership agreement with China National Chemical Engineering Corporation (CNCEC) to lay the foundation for the restart of the plant.
Back story
In June 2004, BFIGroup was declared the winner of the bid for majority shares of the plant by the National Council on Privatisation (NCP).
But, the declaration of the consortium as the preferred bidder with an offer of $410m was short-lived, as the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) unilaterally cancelled the announcement.
The illegal decision by the privatisation agency resulted in a long legal battle by BFIGroup to reclaim the ownership of the plant leading up to July 6, 2012 when the Supreme Court ruled in a unanimous verdict to nullify the cancellation and order the reinstatement of the winner.
Regardless, BPE defied the apex court’s order of specific performance directing it to rescind the illegal handing over of the management and operation of the plant to UC RUSAL of Russia, thereby stalling the operation of the plant.
The continued defiance and frustration of the Supreme Court’s order on the matter resulted in the conviction of the immediate past Director General of BPE, Alex Okoh, after he was sentenced to 30 days imprisonment for his serial disobedience of the apex court’s order to retrieve ALSCON from UC RUSAL and reinstate BFIGroup as the recognised owner of the plant.
Although the Appeal court, on compassion grounds, latee waived the conviction sentence following an appeal, Okoh who is currently lying low outside the country, was made to pay a N10m fine for his indiscretion.
Foundation for restart
To bring to an end years of colossal losses as a result of the plant remaining unfunctional, the Federal Government recently facilitated the signing of a partnership agreement between BFIGroup and China National Chemical Engineering Corporation (CNCEC) to lay the foundation for the restart of the plant.
A Ministry of Petroleum Resources statement announcing the signing ceremony described it as epoch-making, as it would see the idle plant commence operations again in the near future.
The Minister of State Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, who witnessed the signing of partnership agreement between BFIGroup, and CNCEC said it marked a giant step forward for the country seeing the core investor in the ALSCON transaction begin the move to take over the operation of the plant.
Represented by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Ambassador Nicholas Agbo Ella, the Minister said the official signing of agreement by the two companies sets the stage and foundation for their partnership towards the restart of ALSCON.
“When the ALSCON plant comes back on stream, it would return to its pride of place as the nation’s catalyst for the development of Aluminium Upstream and Downstream Sectors, utilising natural gas and positioning Nigeria as a major producer of aluminium in Africa and globally; with a capacity to produce one million metric tons of aluminium per annum, and generation of about 540MW of electricity from its gas-fired power plant,” the Minister said.
He described the partnership agreement signing ceremony as “another testament to the strong commitment of the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria, Bola Ahmed Tinubu to encourage investments in the utilisation of the nation’s abundant natural gas to drive Nigeria industrialization, economic growth and development”.
In his speech , the Chairman of BFIGroup, Dr. Reuben Jaja said CNCEC, which had shown interest in the national planning and industrial development of Nigeria, has promised to work with BFIGroup to promote the efficient utilisation of natural gas, reduce carbon emissions in our environment, foster development of energy industry, enhance employment opportunities and accelerate regional economic growth in Nigeria.
The Chairman of CNCEC, Bao Guangdon, acknowledged the country’s abundant deposits of natural resources, especially in the oil and gas sector and assured of the company’s strength and willingness to harness the resources for the common good of all.
He promised that the company would deploy her best workforce, especially in the area of financing with a view to achieving quality results.
