The Director General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), Mr. Alex Okoh, on Friday disclosed that the Federal Government had kicked off the process of partial commercialisation of four River Basin Development Authorities (RBDAs) in the country.
The affected river basins are the Niger-Delta, Sokoto-Rima, Ogun-Osun and Upper Niger river basin development authorities.
Okoh gave the hint while speaking at the kick-off meeting for the commencement of Transaction Advisory services by Agri-Africa Consultant A&E Law and Partnership Consortium for the partial commercialisation of the four RBDAs.
The Director General, while expressing delight at the commencement of the project, said that the main objective of the advisory service was to restructure and reposition the RBDAs for optimum performance and that the kick-off meeting was to formally introduce the advisers to the Minister and other key stakeholders.
According to him, the scope of work by Agri-Africa Consultant A& E Law and Partnership Consortium is to provide the requisite advice and support required for the Federal Government to successfully implement the partial commercialisation of the RBDAs in a manner consistent with relevant national policies, laws and international best practices.
He said the scope of work include; conduct of Diagnostic Study on the four RBDAs and define their business objectives and to develop a strategic plan to achieve its operational goals; and identify, verify, record, classify and value the key assets of the RBDAs including status of title documents of their lands.
Others are, to implement in conjunction with the BPE, the Partial Commercialisation of the four (4) RBDAs develop quality management system, chart of Accounts and opening balance sheets for the four (4) pilot RBDAs based on internationally acceptable standards and introduce operational tools developed through a one off training; and the Advisers shall Incorporate, Restructure and Reposition the four (4) named RBDAs to be self sustaining.
The Minister of Water Resource, Engr. Suleiman Adamu, who was represented by the Director, River Basins Authority and Inspectorate of the Minister of Water Resources, Mr. John Chigbo said the RBDAs project was in line with the vision of the ministry and promised to support and cooperate with Adviser in the course of the project.
In his remarks, the Team Leader of the Agri-Africa consultant A&E Law and Partnership Consortium, Mr. Chigbozu Ekwekwuo, expressed gratitude for the opportunity avail to the consortium to serve the nation, adding that the consortium had assembled a credible team to deliver the project and make agriculture work in the country.
