Director General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) Ms Bolanle Onagoruwa, has told the Senate Ad-hoc Committee investigating the BPE’s activities that the sale of Delta Steel Company (DSC), Aladja, did not follow due process.

Onagoruwa told the Sen. Ahmed Lawan-led committee at its resumed sitting that the DSC was sold to a company that did not bid for it.

“Only four firms submitted their technical and financial bids by the deadline of the advertisement for bids on May 4,2004 and Global Infrastructure Ltd (GIL) did not submit their proposal. “

She said that technical bids of the four firms were evaluated and ranked as follows: Osaka Steel; first, BUA International Ltd; second, Dangote; third and Niger-Benue Transport Company; fourth.

“So, consequent upon this, the first three were pre-qualified for the final bids: BUA International Ltd offered 20.5 million dollars, Dangote; 10 million dollars, and Osaka Steel; 2.5 million dollars.

“The secretariat sought the approval for BUA to pay the upper price of20.5 million but the then President, in his response, directed the secretariat to negotiate for not less than 25 million dollars.

“So, after emerging as the preferred bidders, BUA offered to up its bid money to 25 million dollars.

“It also offered to dredge the Excravos Bay and to complete the 32 kilometres rail line from Aladja to Itakpe”.

She, however, said that at the end, Global Infrastructure wrote to the then President indicating their interest and DSC was sold to them for 30 million dollars.

The then Director General of BPE, Dr Julius Bala, told the committee that he received a letter of approval from the National Council on Privatisation to sign off the sale ofDSC to GIL.

“Due to the political situation at that time and the fact that I was made to know that I am on the way out of the BPE, I had no option but to sign as the head at that time”.      Committee Chairman, Lawan said that following the submission of the BPE, GIL should have been rejected and the DSC handed over to BUA.

“Some of the clumsy things that happened in the privatisation have landed us where we are today.

“You have a bidder, who was a preferred bidder, a winner who accepted all the terms of the sale and was prepared to pay, dredge and even construct a rail line.

In a related development, Mr Manish Mundra, Managing Director of the Eleme Petro-Chemical Company Ltd (EPCL), told the committee that before Indorama Group took over the company, the EPCL was performing below capacity.

Mundra said his company was able to return the facility to production within four months of taking over and was now producing at full capacity.

He said they bought 75 per cent shares at 225 million dollars without liabilities, adding that the NNPC had 10 per cent of the shares of the company.

He also said that host communities owned 7.5 per cent shares, the staff 2.5 per cent while the Federal Government retained 5 per cent.

The chairman said the management of some cement and oil companies invited to the hearing were absent.

Ire also said the former FCT Minister, Malam Nasir EI-Rufai and former DG of the BPE, Mrs Irene Chigbue, had written to the committee that they were in the U.S. for medical treatment.

He, however, said they had given the assurance that they would appear before the committee before the end of the public hearing.