“Work With Us and Not Against Us”- Embattled Ossiomo Power Begs Edo State Govt Amid Faceoff with Chinese Partner Over Shareholding

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The Ossiomo Power and Infrastructure Company in Edo State, has made a passionate appeal to the state government for continued patronage amid protracted ownership dispute between it and its Chinese partner, Jiangsu Communication Clean Energy Technology (CCETC) which resulted in disruption of power distribution to its clientele prompting the state government, its biggest customer, to abandon it for the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC).

The privately-owned power generating company, a 95MW gas-fired facility in Ologbo, Ikpoba-Okha local government area of the state, pleaded with the government “to encourage Nigerian citizens to invest and not to work against local investors”.

Ossiomo Power accused the CCETC of being economical with the truth when it claimed that despite having invested over $20 million, it was yet to get any return on its investments, disclosing that its Chinese partner had received over N2 billion.

Trouble started between the two partners on September 1, 2025, when CCETC shut down the Ossiomo Power Plant over ownership controversy thus plunging its numerous electricity consumers into darkness.

While Ossiomo Power, established by Dr. Uwa Igiehon, claimed to be the sole owner of the electricity company with CCETC just its contractor, the Chinese company however insisted it owns 75% shares and Ossiomo, 25%, with Edo State, hitherto believed to be part-owner with 5% shares, said to have no stake at all.

Following the shut-down of the power plant about a fortnight ago, a representative of CCETC who identified himself as Mr. ‘W’ had, during a telephone interview explained that the “instruction to shutdown was because we lost lots of money and did not get any return on investment,” adding that “all the $20m investment was done by us including the distribution lines.”

Countering the company’s claim however, a representative of Ossiomo Power, Festus Evbuomwan, an engineer, said the management was not aware of the $20m investment the Chinese partner claimed, adding, “when they generate power, we sell and pay them.”

Evbuomwan, who spoke on Saturday during an interactive session with customers on the faceoff, disclosed that after shutting down the power plant, the Chinese partner came up with a request of ₦185m to be paid to two Chinese which the Nigeria partner declined.

According to him, the Chinese partner, having seen how lucrative the business is, “went to some quarters 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 also been 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.”

Apologising to customers for the power outage caused by the ongoing dispute, Evbuomwan said Ossiomo had started partial power generation, assuring full capacity soon.

He said, “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.”

Evbuomwan assured that once the company is fully back, “we will find a way of solving the problem of the third-party customers who want to remain with us.

“Ten days from now, we will be in our full capacity, however, we will not be in position to use government poles and wire.

“We are appealing to the government to let us supply power to customers in their Ines. It is not completely lockdown. The company is making everything possible to site 33kva along Airport Road and Lagos Road as soon as possible”.

Dispelling the speculation that the immediate past governor of the state, Godwin Obaseki has interest in the company, Evbuomwan emphasised that “What we’re trying to do is to clear the bias this government is having towards us with the belief that Obaseki has shares in Ossiomo.

“I want to make it clear that Obaseki has no dime in Ossiomo. So, they should do business with us. When we put power at the secretariat, the government buys, and from there distribute to different places. So, people in this category are third-party customers”.

The magazine gathered that Governor Monday Okpebholo may have waded into the dispute   in the interest of subscribers who are suffering the consequences of several days of power outage either in their homes or businesses.