$3b debt delays plans for NITEL’s liquidation - BPE
The
Director General of the Bureau, Mr Benjamin Nikki, gave this hint when the
Senate Committee on Privatisation visited his office.
According
to him, the planned liquidation of NITEL has been quite challenging since it is
difficult to determine its real assets in the face of already identified huge
liabilities.
He
explained that up till now, it had been difficult to determine the total value
of the assets of NITEL but that arrangements were being made to determine the
worth of the assets and know whether it would be able to net-off the
liabilities.
Dikki
said the value of NITEL will only be established by a consortium of experts
that the BPE is in the process of engaging as they will physically look at the
assets, evaluate them and then ascertain what it is worth.
Meanwhile,
the BPE has indicated its intention to forward seven draft Bills to the
National Assembly which, when passed into law, would encourage private sector
investors to invest in key areas of infrastructure, water resources,
telecommunications and other sectors crucial to achieving private-sector driven
sustainable growth of the nation’s economy.
The
Director-General said the agency had also set in motion arrangements for the
privatisation of other key public agencies as part of efforts to make them
attract adequate investments required for their improved functionality and
globally competitiveness.
In
addition, Dikki disclosed that plans were also being put in place to completely
divest government’s equities from privatised companies, including NICON
Insurance, as a strategic option of creating opportunities for Nigerians to
take up such equities and by implication, continue to benefit from the affected
entities in terms of dividends on their investment.
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