Senate Urges BPE Report Implementation

African Union Chairman and President of Benin Republic, Dr. Yayi Boni(M) flanked by the country's Ambassador to Nigeria, Alh. Mufutalu Lalaye(R) and Dr. Bassey Esu,Consultant PRS, Cross River State Tourism Bureau during a tour of Becheve Nature Reserve in Obudu Ranch Resort, Cross River State when the president visited the area on vacation.

The Senate yesterday appealed to
President Goodluck Jonathan to implement the resolutions it adopted following
its investigations of the privatisation of companies from 1999 to 2011.

The Senate made the appeal while
debating a bill for an Act to amend the Bureau for Public Enterprises (BPE) Act
2004 to provide for inclusion of host communities in sales of shares.

The BPE report was laid on the
floor of the Senate in November 2011.

Deputy Senate President Ike
Ekweremadu, who presided over plenary, noted that the Senate reached the
resolutions after painstaking session.

“We know that our resolutions are
not binding but you see the decisions we take in this Senate, especially
regarding resolutions are well thought out and well researched.

“It is the amalgamation or views
of very responsible Nigerians, and to that extent it is very persuasive.

“Any person who is ignoring the
resolutions of this Senate is doing so at the expense of good governance,’’ he
said.

The sponsor of the Bill, Sen.
Ifeanyi Okowa (PDP-Delta) said the Bill sought to ensure better accountability
and amend the functions of the National Council on Privatization, to remove all
forms of contradictions.

“The Amendment of the Public
Enterprises (Privatisation and Commercialisation) Act is to provide further
legislative frame work for improved accountability, provide appropriately for
host communities and staff of public enterprises in the sales of shares of such
public enterprises.

According to him, the amendment
being proposed in the bill is in line with the resolutions of the Senate concerning
the investigation it carried out on the privatisation of companies.

“Section 5 (3) of the Act proposed
for amendment to provide for the inclusion of host communities. The amendment
provides for not less than five per cent of the shares to be offered to
Nigerians, to be reserved for the host communities of the public enterprises to
be privatised.

Okowa said the import of the
amendment was to enhance the security of the public enterprise to enable the
staff of the enterprise and the host communities buy into the process of
privatisation.

“The local economy will also be
stimulated and the gains made would help to transform our communities.

“The challenges of local content
and employment within such enterprises are more likely to be addressed by the
communities as co owners.’’

Okowa said the amendment being
sought to section 1(3) of the act would ensure that the National Assembly’s
powers, as enshrined in the constitution to make laws were not infringed upon.

In his contribution, co-sponsor of
the bill, Sen. Ahmed Lawan(ANPP-Yobe) noted that the bill was sequel to the
investigation the Senate undertook on the activities of the BPE from 1999 to
2011.

Lawan, who chaired the Ad-hoc
committee, said during the investigation, it was discovered that the public enterprises
act of 1999 was flawed in about four ways.

“Section 1(3) gives the National
Council on Privatisation (NCP) the powers to amend the first schedule. That is
to say the distribution of power of public enterprise will be sold out or
privatised.

He also said the investigation
discovered that BPE was spending its proceeds without reference to the National
Assembly.

“In fact, we recommended
punishment and sanctions for two of the officers who did that because those
actions were against section 80 of the constitution. ”

Lawan appealed to the President to
use his discretion and implement the resolutions adopted by the Senate
concerning the BPE report that was submitted to him.

“Mr President must ignore people
who will always tell Nigerians that the resolutions we take here are only
advisory and have no weight.

Sen. Isa Galaudu (PDP- Kebbi) in
his contribution, said the amendments being sought to the act were in line with
international best practices in privatisation.

Galaudu said it was only right
that certain percentages of privatised companies were reserved for the host
communities and the staff of the company.

He appealed to the executive to
ensure that the resolutions reached by the Senate following its investigation
of the BPE were not swept under the carpet.

On his part, Sen. George Akume
(ACN-Benue) explained that though a privatised company should work, that had
not been the case due to neglect of the law.

Akume expressed optimism that the
amendment would address the issue, adding that it would also emphasis the need
to cater for the host communities.

Sen. Ibrahim Gobir (PDP-Sokoto) in
his contribution, stressed the need for the percentage for the host community
to be raised to 10 per cent.

“The issue of the shares going to
the company is very important and it should be raised to 10 per cent because
the community can even make the company ungovernable by vandalising equipment.”

Sen. Uche Chukwumerije (PDP-Abia)
however, advocated that the share for the staff should be reviewed to 7 per
cent and one per cent reserved for the senior staff.

Chukwumerije appealed for caution
while making reference to host communities so that it was not only privatized
oil companies that were involved but also tooth paste manufacturing companies
in Abuja.