BPE Spends Privatisation Proceeds On Workers’ Payment

The Director-General, Bu
reau of Public Enterprise, (BPE), Mr. Benjamin Dikki, has said that all the money realised by the Federal Government from sale of the 17 successor companies of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria was expended on the entitlements of the workers of the defunct monopoly.
The DG, who stated this in Abuja, recently, on a Radio Nigeria programme monitored by our correspondent was quoted to have said that the management of labour issues in the power sector was more challenging but President Goodluck Jonathan  directed and insisted that every one of the over 47,913 workers of the PHCN must receive every kobo of his or her entitlements.
According to the statement  which was issued by the Head of Public Communications at the privatization agency, Mr. Chigbo Anichebe, as a result of the President’s directive, all the proceed from the sale of the unbundled companies of the defunct state monopoly were expended on the settlement of workers’ entitlements across the country.
He observed that reforms in the various sectors of the economy had generated employment as most of the privatized companies like WAPCO, Oando and the banking sector have through local and international expansion created millions of jobs, emphasizing that privatization was creating jobs.
The BPE boss said managing the various stakeholders was one of the greatest challenges to the reform and privatization programme of the federal government.
He identified the various stakeholders in the reform and privatization programme as labour. Unions, players in the different sectors, prospective investors consultants/advisors and those he called ideologues.
According to him, to have a credible and successful transaction skilful management of the various stakeholders was required.
Dikki noted that the power sector reform and privatization was acclaimed to be good because of the high degree of transparency which stakeholders observed and led to the absence of any controversy about the outcome.
He said the cardinal objective of the government should be to provide an enabling environment for private sector investors to invest in such areas as roads and railways as it was the practice in developed economies.