The DG noted that the sale process was the best option for NITEL/MTEL as any other mode of sale would have incurred huge liabilities for the government.
He added that the Bureau was in the process of engaging advisers who are expected to visit all NITEL/MTEL installations in the country to assess the state of the company and subsequently obtain the actual value of the company.
Mr. Dikki decried the absence of a regulator at Nigerian ports since their concession in 2006, contending that it has impeded the smooth operation of the concessionaires.
“During the concession of the ports in 2006, it was envisaged that a regulator will be put in place soon after to regulate operations at the ports but seven years down the line, this has not been achieved”, he noted. The privatisation boss, however, stressed that the present administration is doing everything possible to put a regulator in place as the Federal Executive Council (FEC) will soon receive a bill for its consideration and approval. When the Ports and Harbour Reform Bill is approved by FEC, it will be forwarded to the National Assembly for enactment.”
On the transaction in the power sector, Dikki assured that it was going on smoothly and dispelled rumours that government was secretly handing over some of the successor companies to the bidders.
He said that the privatisation of the sector was to give room for efficiency and to cut down costs.
“At present there are 43,000 workers for PHCN which generates about 6,000 megawatts of electricity for the country. This is not economically viable because in a public set up, there is no entrepreneurial spirit”, he noted.
He said that the process of payment of severance benefits to all PHCN workers would commence in the next two weeks, adding that within this week, individual pay benefits statements of all the staff would be sent to them to confirm the figures.
On the casualisation of staff in privatised enterprises, the DG said that he was not aware of the practice in any of the privatised enterprises. According to him, the two enterprises—NITEL/MTEL and PHCN—which had casual workers before the enterprises were scheduled for privatisation had such staff converted to full employment.
The Director General announced that the privatisation process of the Abuja Securities and Commodity Exchange (ASCE) has commenced, stressing that its privatisation would unlock Nigeria’s agricultural potentials and also provide predictable prices for agricultural produce.
On the Federal Housing Authority (FHA) which the Federal government had inaugurated a steering committee for its commercialisation, Dikki said that when actualised “there will be a housing revolution in the country as all those impediments hampering mass housing in the country will be removed”.
CHIGBO ANICHEBE
Head, Public Communications
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