The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Fed Govt

  • BPE: why Fed Govt is holding on to 40% stake in DisCos

    •Bureau explains revival mission

    The Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) is determined to revive some of the 147 privatised Federal Government enterprises, 37 per cent of which were said to be under-performing. The revival is for revenue generation and employment purposes. JOHN OFIKHENUA reports that the BPE is justifying government’s refusal to divest its 40 per cent stake in the electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos) to shore up revenue and create more jobs.

    The 11 Distribution companies supplying electricity to domestic and industrial consumers and their operational areas are presented below:

    • Kaduna Distribution Company – Kaduna, Zamfara, Sokoto and Kebbi

     

    • Kano Distribution Company – Jigawa, Kano and Katsina

     

    • Abuja Distribution Company – Niger, FCT, Nassarawa, and Kogi

     

    • Ibadan Distribution Company – Kwara, Oyo, Osun and Ogun

     

    • Eko Distribution Company -Lagos, Ogun and Agbara

     

    • Ikeja Distribution Company – Ikeja, Oshodi, Epe, Ikorodu, Kosofe, Ikosi-Isheri, Alimosho, Agege, part of Amuwo-Odofin, part of Mushin, Ojodu Berger and part of Ogun

     

    • Benin Distribution Company – Delta, Edo, Ondo and Ekiti states

     

    • Port Harcourt Distribution Company – Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Rivers and Bayelsa states Enugu Distribution Company Abia, Ebonyi, Enugu, Anambra and Imo states

     

    • Yola Distribution Company – Taraba, Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states

     

    • Jos Distribution Company – Benue, Gombe, Bauchi, and Plateau.

     

    THE Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) is set to revive non-performing privatised enterprises in its determination to create more jobs and widen the Federal Government tax sources.

    It (BPE) is optimistic that the full implementation of its Post Acquisition Plan (PAP) for the enterprises will be beneficial to communities, where such concerns are domiciled

    A stakeholders’/investors’ forum was recently organised in Abuja by the BPE to revitalise the bricks and mining, steel, automobile industry, services and agriculture sectors.

    At the opening of the forum, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, who doubles as the Chairman of the National Council on Privatisation (NCP) Chairman, said the Federal Government has refurbished 140 public enterprises the Bureau’s 30 years of reform journey.

    He listed the affected enterprises across the various sectors of the economy as including: banking and insurance, oil and gas, power, hospitality, pensions and telecommunications.

    The reforms, according to the BPE chair, were in the form of full or partial privatisation, full or partial commercialisation and concession.

    Prof Osinbajo said: “The vast majority of these enterprises can be regarded as being productive and profitable. However, naturally, there is a small percentage of these enterprises which have not been able, for one reason or the other, to achieve success. The purpose of this forum is to address this.”

    BPE Director-General Alex Okoh explained that since the beginning of the privatisation programme in the 1980s, the Bureau has successfully privatised 142 enterprises by December, last year.

    Out of the 142, according to him, 94 enterprises have been successfully monitored. They cover critical sectors of the economy from the transportation to vehicle assembly plants, oil palm, cement, hospitality, fertiliser, bricks and clay, mines and steel, national facilities, oil and gas, ports, power and communication.

    Sixty-three per cent of the privatised enterprises are performing. Thirty-seven are not performing as expected that,” the BPE boss noted.

    He said that the BPE meeting with core investors in the six bricks and clay companies, mining firm, three automobile firms, two oil palm industries and two paper manufacturers between May and June was to achieve the objective.

    Besides, Okoh, who expressed satisfaction with the process, said the numerous engagements with the investors were to secure their full buy-in and support for the forum.

    He said: “I am happy to announce that all the 12 core investors we have selected for this pilot scheme have cooperated with the Bureau in the organisation of the forum, and they submitted their inputs and recommendations of what needs to be done to revive the enterprises and attract potential investors.  This would form part of the discussion that we will be holding today.”

    It was to further consolidate on the gains the Federal Government insisted on collaboration with stakeholders to activate moribund companies for full capacity utilisation and for the benefit of the citizenry.

    Okoh, therefore, told the stakeholders that the essence of the forum was to create a platform for the public and private sector operators to engage meaningfully and attract potential investors that would inject a new lease of life into the key sub-sectors of the economy.

    The BPE director-general also explained that the forum was to open the enterprises for potential investors to inject fresh ideas, capital and expertise into rejuvenating them.

    The urgent need for the enterprises’ revival according to the vice president, culminated in a directive to the National Council on Privatisation (NCP) to the BPE to, amongst other things, highlight the significant potential of these enterprises, interact with potential investors, engage the key stakeholders (including the relevant MDAs) and facilitate the resolution of all identified impediments that have prevented these companies from performing optimally.

    Osinbajo said: “Today’s forum represents a continuation of the Federal Government’s desire and commitment to put in place an enabling business environment and to create investment opportunities for the private sector.

    “Please recall that we signed three Executive Orders last year to actualise this desire and to address the following critical areas namely:

    • The promotion of transparency and efficiency in the business environment designed to facilitate the ease of doing business in the country;
    • Support for local content in public procurement by the Federal Government;
    • Timely submission of annual budgetary estimates by all statutory and non-statutory agencies, including companies owned by the Federal Government.

    “The impact of these Executive Orders is already being felt and resulted in Nigeria rising 24 places in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business rankings for 2017.

    “It is my anticipation that by bringing together policymakers, local and foreign investors, we will be able to engage in meaningful dialogue and develop a road map for reviving these enterprises and other non-performing enterprises.”

    Okoh listed the objectives of the privatisation programme expected to be achieved at the forum as:

    • To build a strong and competitive economy.
    • To re-focus the role of government in the economy.
    • To attract foreign investment and technology; to create higher skilled/paying jobs.
    • To bring the benefits of privatisation to the common man.

     

    Government defends

    stake in DisCos

     

    After the privatisation of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) Plc assets in 2013, the Federal Government retained 40 per cent equity in the DisCos. Despite having the BPE to represent government’s interest in the companies, their performance remained below average.

    Confronted with questions about the companies at the sideline of the forum, Okoh explained why government has not divested its stake in the firms despite the dire need of funds for revival.

    His words: “Power is a strategic utility and the government at this time is not comfortable to totally divesting the interest in such essential and core utility. We had proposed that over time as we see the performance of the new private sector investors holding 60 per cent in the Discos and their commitment to providing this key public utility, then the government can systematically divest its interest.

    “But, we have to be in a position that we are comfortable with how this key utility is being run, if not, there is the possibility that the government will be held hostage by the private sector people as far as that is concerned because a responsible government cannot wake up and not explain reasons for a blackout.”

    Okoh said that the government was weighing several options including, looking into whether the balance sheets have been compromised.

    The BPE chief suggested that analysing the situation to know “if the Discos balance sheets are compromised because they are not able to raise sufficient capital to improve the distribution network and provision of meters, then we have to look at the possibility of how to admit other investors who may have the capacity financially and other technical expertise to improve the distribution infrastructure.”

    He noted that the interest of the citizenry lay in improved power supply at a reasonable cost and not in the power play between the government and the DisCos.

    Despite the ailing condition of the assets and investors’ reluctance to inject more funds to rejuvenate them, the BPE boss said the government has not plan yet resell or re-privatise them.

    He, however, suggested ways out of whatever challenges being faced by the investors.

    Okoh said: “We cannot resell. It is not re-privatisation, it is already owned by the core investors, but if they make that strategic decision to admit additional investors, that will be fine.

    “And, if they admit that liquidity is the challenge and the way they want to solve it is through equity and not debt, then they can admit investors, but if it is a debt solution, then we can approach the banks – the BoI (Bank of Industry) and others.”

    He described privatisation as a way of raising money to make up for government shortages, instead of resorting to borrowing which should be a second option to resolving any financial gap that a corporate organisation or individual faces.

    According to him, the same principle should apply to a country when it is in a shortfall in its liquidity to fund developmental activities. Okoh insisted that the natural fallback situation should be the assets that have not been yielding any benefit to the country as a whole and privatise these companies to raise the liquidity to fund the existing gap.

    He said: “Borrowing or debts should be a sending options not your primary option because there is a cost to even borrowing which also comes back in terms of budgetary provisions that you have to service the debt.

    “The principle of realising the value of assets that you have accumulated in the period of boom should drive a government policy in terms of bridging its cash fall in times of gloom.”

    The success of the stakeholders’ forum will be determined with the implementation of the resolutions and recommendations made participants.

     

  • Fed Govt seeks more awareness on fistula elimination

    Minister of Health Prof. Isaac Adewole  has called for more awareness on the elimination of obstetric fistula to reduce maternal mortality.

    Adewole said this  at the High Level Awareness Seminar on Fistula in Abuja.

    The minister said obstetric fistula is childbirth injury, which  causes both physical and social harm in women. Women, who experience obstetric fistula suffer incontinence, shame, and social segregation and health problems.

    He said: “The development of obstetric fistula is directly linked to one of the major causes of maternal mortality: obstructed labour. It is estimated that more than two million young women live with untreated obstetric fistula in Asia and Sub- Saharan Africa

    “In Nigeria the most common cause of obstetric fistula is prolonged obstructed labour due to limited access to emergency obstetric care. Unfortunately only 38 percent of deliveries in Nigeria are supervised by Social Birth Attendances (SBAs). Socio- cultural practices, including early marriage and early childbirth before the pelvis is fully developed, also contribute significantly.”

    Adewole said in a 2017 report by UNICEF, 43 percent of Nigerian girls are married off before their 18th birthday, while 17 percent get married before 15. The Northeastern and Northwestern have the highest number of cases.

    He added: “An estimated 150,000 women and girls are living with untreated fistula in Nigeria, with an annual incidence of 12,000 to 15, 000 cases, approximately, the country contributes 15 percent to the global burden of the obstetric fistula. It is estimated that the unmet need for the treatment of OFs could be as high as 98 percent in Nigeria, with less than 3,000 fistula repairs done annually (NSF2018).  It is also estimated that about 2,000 fistula repairs annually (NSF 2018- 2022) and 10,000 clients are added annually to subsequent years new cases’’.

    To this end, the minister said  the Federal Government  and development partners were making efforts to eliminate fistula and investing in capacity building of various cadres of healthcare workers.

    Adewole said the ministry has developed National Training Guidelines with the National Group on Obstetric Fistula, development partners, line ministries and other key relevant stakeholders.

    “FMOH would establish four more National Centres and one regional centre, in addition to the three National Centres. This will increase our national obstetric centres to eight including regional centre. I urge partners to join the fight against the scourge of fistula in our society, so Fed Govt would continue to play a leading role in setting the agenda,” Adewole said.

    The Family Health  Director, Dr. Adebimpe Adebiyi, assured that the  ministry was committed to eliminating Obstetric Fistula and improving the lives of women and children in Nigeria.

    UNFPA Acting Country Representative in Nigeria, Dr. Eugene Kongnyuy, said that there was the need to create more awareness on OFs in Nigeria, “and the focus should be on improving Girl- Child Education, Child spacing, Gender trust and people showing more compassion.”.

     

  • TUC urges Fed Govt on affordable housing for workers

    The President of the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC), Comrade Bobboi Kaigama, has berated the Federal Government for not taking workers’ income into consideration in the housing projects being implemented across the nation.

    Kaigama said previous efforts to build houses for workers had remained white elephant projects because they did not plan for the workers by knowing their salary strengths.

    He said: “When you are building houses and you do not know your offtakers’ status, your effort will be in vain. What we have currently is a case of building for the upper class.”

    He spoke in Abuja at a stakeholders’ forum to announce a partnership between workers of the Voice of Nigeria (VON) and Value Chain Consults.

    The partnership is for Value Chain Consults to construct houses for VON workers.

    Kaigama said the project would cover two states in each geopolitical zone, with special ones in Abuja and Lagos in the first phase. He noted that the project which had the backing of President Muhammadu Buhari was an important incentive to make workers more productive, prevent corruption, as well as check insecurity.

    He praised Value Chain Consults for carrying out detailed housing affordability survey for the civil servants, which would eliminate the problem of unoccupied houses due to the inability of workers to pay, and also commended them for taking the pain to pre-qualify the workers before embarking on the construction of the houses.

    Kaigama wondered why international banks gave loans at single digit, while Nigerian banks charged as high as 25 percent interest from loans.

    VON Director General (DG)  Osita Okechukwu assured the workers that the project would be carefully executed for their benefit and that 20 hectares had been allocated at Lugbe for the first phase.

    “I want to assure you that when the planning stage is completed within the next two weeks, we will commence construction of the houses and Mr. President will commission them,” he said.

    He said VON staff would be accommodated the arrangement, starting with staff residing in Abuja.

     

  • Fed Govt offers N90b bonds for sale

    The Federal Government has offered for subscription by auction N90 billion worth of bonds in its Aug. 15 auction, the Debt Management Office (DMO) has said.

    The offer circular obtained from its website on Thursday in Abuja, showed that it would sell N25 billion of a five year re-opening issue maturing in April 2023 at 12.75 per cent.

    It would also sell N25 billion seven year re-opening bond to mature in March 2025 at 13.53 per cent and another N40 billion 10 year re-opening at 13.98 per cent to mature in Feb. 2028.

    Nigeria issues sovereign bonds monthly to support the local bond market, create a benchmark for corporate issuance and fund its budget deficit.

  • Fed Govt inaugurates team on job creation

    The Federal Government has inaugurated a multi-sectoral task team on the implementation of the public-private roundtable on youth employment and skills development.

    The team has the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, as chairman, representative of the National Social Investment Programme (NSIP), Office of the Vice President, as alternate chairperson, and a representative of the private sector as co-chairperson.

    While inaugurating the 20-man team, the Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Prof. Stephen Ocheni, said the Federal Government was poised to reverse the ugly trend of youth unemployment through the involvement of stakeholders in a round table on youth employment and skills development in partnership with the African Development Bank Group (AfDB).

    Prof. Ocheni said, “The task team is saddled with the responsibility to convene a private sector round table engagement as an exchange platform towards the identification and financing of eight priority projects for accelerated youth employment and skills development. Further expectations are that the work of the team would key into the aspirations of the Economic Recovery Growth Plan (ERPG) of the present administration and also boost the rate of attainment of the relevant Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the country.”

    He decried the country’s inability to translate youth innovations into gainful employment opportunities, wealth creation and sustainable development.

  • Fed Govt not sincere about Ogoni cleanup, say activists

    Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth, Nigeria (ERA/FoEN), has urged the Federal Government to  implement the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) Report on Ogoniland.

    Executive Director of ERA/FoEN Dr Godwin Uyi Ojo spoke at a news briefing/stakeholders’ review meeting on the ‘Implementation of UNEP Report and Clean-up of Ogoni’ in Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital yesterday.

    The event was in recognition of release of the August 4, 2011, UNEP Report on Environmental Pollution in Ogoniland and its recommendation for a cleanup.

    “The flag off  for the cleanup project was held  in 2016 amid high expectations by all and sundry, especially  Ogoni people that the process will start immediately,  however between then and date,  nothing meaningful has been done or could be said to be on the offering regarding the actual exercise, including the emergency  measure provisions recommended by the report as alternative for the people to mark the commencement of the project has been implemented until date, as the state of the environment and it’s inhabitants continues to grow worse,” ERA said.

    Regretting the insincerity of the Federal Government,  Dr. Ojo, in the statement, entitled,  ‘Smokescreen of clean up,  no more delays,  cleanup Ogoni now,” said the body language of the Federal Government showed falsehood,  deception and lack of seriousness.

    He said: “Ogoni cleanup has become something of a smokescreen and this is agitating the mind of many Nigerians, including the restive Ogoni people, who want justice to be done.

    “What is critical at this point is that government should, as a matter of urgency, clarify when the actual cleanup will commence. In 2016, people’s hopes were dashed. They were dashed again last year.

    “Now, in 2018, we expected that the cleanup would have started since January, but HYPREP, government officials are giving conflicting cleanup date, and this is very frustrating.

    ‘’The minister of Environment had said that the cleanup will commence in August, yet another government official from the Presidency, Dr Edobor Iyamu, said the cleanup will commence in December. And here we have the Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, saying that the resumption of oil production is a pre-condition for the cleanup.

    “These are really agitating the minds of Nigerians, leaving them no choice but to conclude that the cleanup is a smokescreen. So, when will the cleanup commence and when will the first drop of oil be cleaned from Ogoni.”

    However, Dr Ojo further urged that “government should show sincerity and demonstrate seriousness, the cleanup should not amount to betrayal and deception of the Ogoni people. Our acting government should be responsive enough to live up it promises, especially in relation to the cleanup process. We understand the pitfalls and problems the HYPREP is facing, but the fund has been released. And the little fund that has been released is being used for Overhead and infrastructure. That is not what people want to hear. People want to hear and see that cleanup has started.

    “There is alot of variation between the UNEP report recommendations and the cleanup itself as being proposed by HYPREP. The relief emergency measures have been jettisoned, is not being carried out.”

    The alternative to water, alternative sources to livelihood have not been provided. So, these are problematic issues and it look as if the questions of the Minority people, the Niger Deltans in Nigeria as a whole remains a critical issue to be revisited.”Ojo stressed.

     

     

     

     

     

  • Fed Govt restricts visa issuance to foreign engineers

    THE Federal Government has begun restriction of issuance of visas to foreigners seeking to take up engineering jobs in Nigeria.

    President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday gave this indication at the 27th Engineering Assembly of the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) at the International Conference Centre, Abuja.

    He explained that the visa restriction to foreign engineers by the Ministry of Interior was in compliance with Executive Order 5 signed by him.

    Buhari, who was represented by Minister of Water Resources Suleiman Adamu, said the decision would free up more jobs for Nigerians and improve local content.

    Beyond the restriction, he added that he had approved two key regulations for Nigeria’s engineering/construction sector and they include the Regulation on Licensing of Engineering Firms and Regulation on Construction Industry.

    Buhari said the Federal Government was serious about the order and would ensure that it was strictly adhered to.

    “The implementation of this order has started and as expected some of its attendant benefits, including the promotion of science, technology and innovation in several centres of the economy, are beginning to manifest.

    “Directly connected to these benefits is the fact that the Ministry of Interior has now restricted issuing visas to foreigners seeking to take up engineering roles in the country. Overall, the proclamation of Executive Order 5, meant to improve local content and free up more jobs to Nigerians and give them increased access to procurement opportunities, is achieving its intended purpose,” Buhari said.

    However, the President stated that absence of up-to-date engineering curriculum in tertiary institutions in Nigeria to reflect the current global trend in engineering had drastically reduced the competitiveness of Nigerian engineers.

    “There is a disturbing gap between engineers trained in Nigeria and those trained abroad. Hence, the need for universities to churn out quality and well-trained professionals,” he said.

    On the approved regulations, COREN President Kashim Ali stated that the rules were approved by the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola and would be implemented by the council.

    Ali stated that the regulation on licensing provides for the licensing of various companies, which include consulting engineering firms, engineering contracting firms, engineering manufacturing and production companies.

    Others include companies that are into engineering service provision, vendoring of engineering machines, plants and materials; and fabrication/repair and maintenance firms.

     

  • Fed Govt inaugurates committee on diabetes

    Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole has inaugurated the National Steering Committee for the Diabetes Awareness and Care Project (DAC) in Nigeria.

    Speaking at the event in Abuja, Adewole said the Federal Government was committed to safeguarding the health of Nigerians and improving diabetes care in Nigeria.

    He said: “The Non-Communicable Disease Division  of the FMoH, in collaboration with the Health Strategy and Delivery Foundation (HSDF) and with the support of the World Diabetes Foundation (WDF), have embarked on this project, which will first be implemented in two states of the country namely FCT and Imo Sates”.

    Adewole said part of the aim of the project was to increase diabetes awareness, improve access to care and strengthen two-way referral systems for diabeties in Imo and FCT.

    “The finalisation of the National Guideline for prevention and control of diabetes in Nigeria which took place earlier this month is an integral part of this project. It is expected that the guideline will ensure standardised protocol for medical care and patient self–management education to prevent acute complication, and reduce the risk of long term complications among Nigerians living with the disease”.

    The minister said the main objectives of the project, among others, are: to improve information available for institution of an informed interventions for diabetes and to improve access to Diabetes care through training of 220 Health care workers at PHC level and screening of at least 30,000 individuals per state for T2DM in Imo and Federal capital Territory (FCT) to improve case findings for diabetes.

    Adewole said the  project would cover three years (2018-2021), adding that part of the terms of implementing the project was for the constitution of the project to provide both oversight and guidelines as well as ensuring the terms of the implementation are adhered to.

    He commended the WDF and HSDF for their support.

    The ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Mr. Abdallahi Mashi,  represented by Public Health Director, Dr. Evelyn Ngige, said the prevalence of diabetes in Nigeria was increasing with the World Health Organisation (WHO) putting the figures at 3.4 percent, and studies it is between three to 10 percent.

    Responding on behalf of the chairperson of the Committee, a member of the Committee, Prof. Felicia Anumah pledged that the committee was committed to the task ahead and would deliver on its mandate.

     

  • Falana to Fed Govt: probe allegations against Daura

    RIGHTS lawyer Femi Falana (SAN) has urged the Federal Government to probe allegations of human rights violations, abuse of office and corruption, which marred the tenure of ex-Department of State Services (DSS) Director-General Lawal Daura.

    Falana, in a short statement yesterday, said: “I had a running battle with Daura over the illegal detention of many detainees, including Zamfara legislators, two Indian nationals, politicians, student leaders, journalists etc.

    “He prevented the Federal Government from complying with the orders of the court to release former National Security Adviser Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd), Ibraheem Elzakzaky and his wife, Zeinab Elzakzaky.

    “He housed the fugitive, Abdurasheed Maina. He countermanded the nominations of the President and colluded with fifth columnists to sabotage the democratic process. Allegations of human rights violations, abuse of office and corruption, which marred Daura’s tenure should be fully investigated.”

     

     

  • Projects: Fed Govt to refund N489b to 21 states

    LAGOS and Akwa-Ibom states top the list of 21 states the Federal Government will refund N489 billion spent on federal projects, senator representing Anambra Central Chief Victor Umeh said this yesterday.

    Speaking in Awka, Anambra State to reporters, Umeh said the Senate decided to settle some of the outstanding claims and liabilities of states with N488,743,526,204.77k based on state-by-state claims.

    From the amount, according to him, Lagos State would be refunded N114.6 billion and Akwa-Ibom would receive N78.7 billion.

    Other states like Zamfara, Umeh said, would get N60.02 billion; Ogun N59.2 billion and Anambra N37. 9 billion, among others.

    He said he was a member of the Ad hoc Committee on promissory note programme and bond issuance that approved the refund.

    According to him, “The approval of the refund followed a motion  by Senator Francis Alimikhena (Edo  North) that the  Senate  should settle inherited local debts and contractual obligations on refund to states’ governments for projects executed on behalf of the Federal Government.”

    However, he urged the Federal Government to release the money on time so that the states, especially Anambra, could put such fund to use.