Senate to implement report on privatisation

The Senate on Sunday said that there was no going back on the full consideration and implementation of the report of its ad hoc committee on privatisation and the probe of the Bureau of Public Enterprises.The Leader of the Senate, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba, who stated this in an interview with our correspondent in Abuja, said the lawmakers were not under pressure to dump the report.Also, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Media and Information, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, said the report had not been dropped, adding that it would be considered.Ndoma-Egba said, The Senate is committed to considering the report, the delay has nothing to do with any external pressure. The Senate has taken a decision and it will ensure that the report is discussed on its merit.I am not aware of any pressure. We had to take the budget when we were hoping to take the report. Our Order Paper is public and the work load is evident.He added that depending on the business of the day, the report might be considered on Tuesday.However, Abaribe said the Senate would round off its 2011 session on Tuesday, ruling out any possibility of considering the report on that day.On insinuation that the report might be dropped, Abaribe said, There are no pressures from anywhere on the Senate.Explaining why the Senate could not take the report, he said, It was to be taken on Thursday except for the budget speech. It is traditional to comment on the Presidents budget speech and that took all of Thursday.In fact, we had to sit beyond 2pm to 3pm in order to take enough senators because all senators are expected to comment.Ask if the upper legislature would take the report on Tuesday, he said, We will close our 2011 session on Tuesday, adding that it would be taken after the break.The Chairman of the ad hoc committee, Senator Ahmed Lawman, said the body had completed its assignment and that the report was chiefly that of the Senate.He, however, expressed confidence in the commitment of the President of the Senate, Senator David Mark, who had admonished the lawmakers to be steadfast in dealing with the recommendations of the report.Many senators had on November 29 condemned former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who approved privatisation of some public companies.It discovered that one of the privatised companies, Volkswagen of Nigeria Limited, had been turned into a warehouse for imported vegetable oils and foreign manufactured cars.For Transcorp Hilton, Nicon Luxury and Sheraton hotels, the committee discovered that the managements had not invested anything in the facilities since they took over, and, therefore, recommended that the sales should be revoked.
Click here to read full news..