BPE has not sold national monuments – DG

Shola Fadare, Lagos - 18.02.2008

Against the backdrop of the controversies surroun-ding the purported sale of national monuments such as the Lagos International Trade Fair Complex, National Theatre Lagos, Tafawa Balewa Square (TBS) and many others by the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), the Director General of the bureau, Mrs. Irene Chigbue, has said that the monuments were never sold.

Addressing journalists in Lagos at the weekend at a workshop organised by the BPE, Mrs. Chigbue said the bureau’s activity was misconstrued by those who were supposed to enlighten the public, saying the mandate of the BPE was to restructure the economy so that these assets could have commercial value and still offer their services to Nigerians.

According to her, “globally, concession broadly refers to any arrangement in which a private firm obtains from the government the right to use a facility owned by the government to provide services under conditions of significant market power for a fixed number of years while government retains ownership of the facility.”

Chigbue added that the challenge of the BPE had always been how it would educate ordinary Nigerians that these monuments were still owned by the government.

“Often, the BPE has had to struggle, explaining how and why the concession of the ports does not mean outright sale of the ports; or how the concession of the Trade Fair Complex and TBS does not mean that private investors have bought over national monuments”, she stated.

According to her, “Nigerians had totally misinterpreted this method of privatisation which perhaps explains the emotions, sometimes anger, as to why the BPE should be involved in those projects.”

Also speaking at the media parley, the Director, Strategy and Planning of BPE, Reginald Ihebizor, and General Counsel/Privatisation Adviser, Dr. Paul Idornigie, both said Nigerians found it difficult to distinguish between outright privatisation and concession; pointing out that government ownership of the assets had been disappointing and the option open to government in the face of competing demands was to call for private sector participation which, according to them, “is a global phenomenon.”