The Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) has said that only 63 percent of the privatized 142 enterprises by it from inception are doing well.
Making this disclosure when he received members of the House of Representatives Committee on Privatisation, led by its Chairman, Alhaji Ahmed Yerima who were on an oversight visit to the Bureau in Abuja last Thursday, the Director General of the privatization agency, Mr. Alex Okoh, attributed the poor performance of the other entities to inclement operating environment.
A statement by the agency’s Head, Public Communications, Amina Tukur Othman, quoted Okoh as saying that out of the number, 94 enterprises had been monitored while the rest have been not monitored because “some were either assets sale or in the first phase of privatization and as such did not fall within the BPE’s monitoring purview”.
Giving a further analysis of the privatized entities, the Director General said that 63 were through core investor sale, nine through guided liquidation, one through sale to existing shareholders, five through public offer and two, through liquidation.
He explained that eight were privatised through private placement, 41 through concession, two through debt/equity swap and 11 through sale of assets.
Okoh said further on the business interests of the sold enterprises that five enterprises were in the agric mechanisation, eight in automobiles, seven in banking and insurance, six in brick making and six in the cement sector.
He listed the business interests of others as 10 in energy construction and services,12 in hotels &tourism, eight in oil and gas, four in paper and packaging, 19 in solid minerals and mining, 7 in steel and aluminum, four in the sugar sector, 26 in marine transport sector, 19 in power and one in telecoms.
The BPE helmsman told the lawmakers that the Bureau has commenced a thorough review of the non-performing enterprises to ascertain the issues affecting their non- performance.
He listed the new initiatives embarked upon by the Bureau to include; the Afam Power and Yola Distribution Company privatisation, concessioning of the Terminal B of the Warri old Port, restructuring and commercialization of the Bank of Agriculture (BOA), partial commercialisation of NIPOST, restructuring and commercilaisation of the 12 River Basin Development Authorities (RBDAs), reform and commercialisation of three of the nation’s national parks and other initiatives in the power sector.
Earlier, Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Privatisation, Alhaji Ahmed Yerima had said that the Committee was at the Bureau to have first hand information on its activities; and to ascertain its compliance with the provisions of the 2017 Appropriation Act in line with the resolution of the House that all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) complied with the Act.
The lawmaker assured that the Committee would use it legislative powers to ensure that BPE’s mandate is not usurped by MDAs; and noted that any attempt in that direction was an infraction on the constitution of the country.
