The Senate, Wednesday, was told that the 600 state-owned enterprises in the country gulped not less than $3 billion on yearly basis with little or no returns into the public purse.
The Upper Chamber was also informed that the N2.28 trillion deficit in the N10.33 trillion 2020 budget could best be funded by proceeds from privatization of moribund national assets than borrowing from foreign and local loans.
Speaking in Abuja during an interactive session with the Senator Theodore Orji, Peoples Democratic Party, PDP-led Senate Committee on Privatization, Alex Okoh, the Director General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises, BPE, said there was no reason whatsoever for the country to be financing budget deficit on yearly basis with borrowings from foreign and local loans when there were national assets that could be converted into liquid for that purpose.
The BPE boss, who noted that the National Theatre in Iganmu Lagos and the National Stadium in Surulere as part of national assets that should have been concessioned for that purpose, said privatization/liberalization had done Nigeria’s economy and her people more good than bad.
Okoh said: “It is not good to keep borrowing on yearly basis to finance deficit budget, when a lot of very valuable national assets are lying fallow and moribund.
“Proceeds from outright privatization or concession of the moribund Assets, should serve as the best alternative in funding yearly budget deficits since the assets are more or less, becoming national liabilities.”
Okoh, who noted that in the telecommunication sector alone, Nigeria had 500,000 land lines and telephone subscribers in pre-year 2000, with subscribers base growing to 150 million lines in 2019, said: “First Bank today is not the same it was while under government control . While not one single unprivatized state owned enterprise is performing, many of the privatized ones are performing by providing the required liquidity in the Nation’s economy.”
The BPE boss noted that the country was still facing huge problems on getting the privatized power sector to function very well.
“We have huge problems concerning the privatization of the power sector as a result of policy misalignment in the sector.
“Analogically, the problem with the sector is like after surgery mismanagement which is however being critically addressed. As at today, installed capacity for power generation is 13, 500 megawatts from 2,600 megawatts it was in 2013 before the sector was privatised,” he added.
Speaking further, he promised that the N320 billion expected as revenue from the agency to fund the 2020 budget would be realised by the second quarters of next year from proceeds to be made from some national assets slated for privatization.
In his remarks, Senator Theodore Orji (PDP Abia Central), Chairman of the Committee, directed him to furnish the committee with records of the agency’ s 2019 budget performance, ahead of consideration of the 2020 budgetary estimates for the agency by the committee next Monday.
