Senate c'ttee recommends sack of BPE boss

The Senate ad-hoc committee on the activities of the Bureau for Public Enterprises (BPE) on the privatisation and commercialisation of public enterprises from 1999 to date has recommended the sack of the Director General of the BPE, Ms. Bolanle Onagoruwa for 'gross misconduct and incompetence.'The committee, Chaired by Senator Ahmad Ibrahim Lawan (ANPP, Yobe North), in the report presented on the floor of the Senate on Tuesday, accused former BPE bosses Nasir El-Rufai, Dr Julius Bala and Mrs Irene Chigbue of fraud and violation of relevant laws in the course of privatising government companies.'Former director generals of BPE Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, Dr Julius Bala and Mrs Irene Chigbue should be reprimanded by the National Privatization Council for seeking approval directly from the president instead of NCP as stipulated in the public enterprise Act of 1999,' the committee recommended.The report asked the National Council of Privatization(NCP) to cancel forthwith the sale of Daily Times of Nigeria to Folio Communication , the Nicon Luxury Hotel to Mr Jimoh Ibrahim for the failure of the core investor to inject at-least additional N2 billion into the company for the furnishing of the hotel to a five-star hotel.Mr Ibrahim was also asked to refund the sum of N900 million to the Federal Government for the recapitalization of the company in 2007 and another N1 billion paid by BPE for the recapitalization of Nigeria Re-insurance plc.It also recommended the immediate cancellation of the sale of Transcorp Hilton, Sheraton Hotel and Towers Abuja, Delta Steel Company to Global Infrastructure Holding, the Aluminum Smelter Company of Nigeria (ALSCON) to Dayson Holding BV.Similarly, the BPE was asked to source for sum of N2.7billion to settle all outstanding staff liabilities in ALSCON, another N5.2 billion to pay Delta steel company and N73 million for the Federal Superphosphate Fertilizer Company. The Senate is expected to consider the report in the comings days.
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