The management of Ossiomo Power Plant said it had paid over ₦2 billion to its Chinese partner, Jiangsu Communication Clean Energy Technology (CCETC), since the plant started operation.
A representative of CCETC who identified himself as Mr. ‘W’ had, during a telephone interview two weeks ago, claimed that “instruction to shutdown was because we lost lots of money and did not get any return on investment,” adding that “all the $20 million investment was done by us, including the distribution lines.”
But a representative of Ossiomo Power Plant, Festus Evbuomwan, during an interactive session with customers on the impasse, said the management was not aware of the $20 million investment the Chinese partner claimed, just as he disclosed that “when they generate power, we sell and pay them.”
He disclosed that after shutting down the power plant, the Chinese partner requested ₦185m be paid to two Chinese, which the Nigerian partner declined.
According to him, the Chinese partner, having seen how lucrative the business is, “went to some quarter and raised some issues, probably thinking they can manoeuvre us with the help of some big persons, so that they can use their machines to generate power and sideline us, but this is not possible.”
“The Chinese partner also claimed that they borrowed $20m from their native land to invest, we are not aware of such investment, and we do not know where the money was invested up till now.
“They have been also saying they have not been receiving anything, but I want to tell you unequivocally that first, the partners run a joint account where their investment is going into. More so, The Chinese partners have received over ₦2bn so far for the power they generate with their machines. When they generate the power, we sell and pay them.”
Engr. Evbuomwan, while apologising to customers for the power outage caused by the dispute between the two partners, said Ossiomo had started power generation though not in full capacity, assuring that power generation would be fully restored soon.
“We have purchased turbines, and one has started working. They are working on the second one, so, by the time our five turbines start working we will be in full capacity. Even with that, those connected to the government may not be reached immediately. This is because the government bought the poles and contracted the wiring, and we cannot force the government to do our bid. Also, we are making efforts to site 33kva along Airport Road and Lagos Road as soon as possible.”
He said the Edo State government does not have a stake in the company, just as he appealed to the government to let them supply power to customers in their lines.
