The Group Chairman of Transnational Corporation(Transcorp) Plc, Tony Elumelu has called on members of the Presidential Metering Initiative, PMI, to be ‘ruthless and result oriented’.
Elumelu gave this charge on Wednesday while speaking at the 19th Annual General Meeting of the Company in Abuja.
While commending the efforts of the President Tinubu-led administration in the power sector, the iconic international entrepreneur emphasised that the efforts of the government will only produce results if timely execution of the initiatives are carried out.
Said Elumelu: “Let me therefore use this opportunity of our AGM to call on all those involved in executing President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s directives on this initiative to please prioritise this critical national task immediately”.
Elumelu added, “they should expedite action to fully pay the huge debt owed GENCOs by completing the process already initiated towards the end of last year.
“I will also submit here that the delivery of meters under PMI should be quickened, our group is more committed in working with the federal government on this.
“I want to use this opportunity to reiterate that access to electricity remains the single most critical factor in fixing the Nigerian economy especially as we seek to have the non-oil sector make greater contribution to our economy. We must therefore fix power to fix and transform Nigeria.
The astute businessman also expressed happiness over the fact that the Transcorp Group’s market value is $3billion (₦4.5trillion).
Elumelu said, “When we took over the company in 2011, the market cap was less than ₦20 billion, we have grown value together.
“The company indeed is growing. Last year, we took Transcorp Ughelli Power public and the value today is in excess of ₦2.7 trillion.
“When we say Transcorp is about improving lives and transforming Nigeria and Africa, it is based on the role we play in catalysing development. Power is critical for the development of every economy.
“Transcorp Power Ughelli has the installed capacity of 1,000 MW of electricity generation and Transafam has 1,000 MW capacity. That is combined 2,000.
“But available capacity for the two; Ughelli is 625 MW and Transafam 305 MW, combined, it’s almost 1,000MW in a country where we consume less than 5,000MW you can now imagine what your company is contributing to the economy.
“Despite the challenging economic climate, one of our subsidiaries, Transcorp Power, has fully repaid the $215m loan it took in 2014 for the acquisition of Transcorp Power Ughelli”.
The Pan-Africa businessman also took time to express joy over the achievements recorded at Transcorp Hotel.
In Elumelu’s words, “at our Transcorp Hotel where you are sitting today, we have just completed the 5,000-capacity event centre.
“We believe Nigeria should be able to attract, global international, world-class events and you cannot achieve this if you do not have an event centre that can accommodate a huge number of people”.
Packaged by Olayinka Agboola
