Vice President Kashim Shettima has charged members of the National Council on Privatisation (NCP) to strive towards maximising value from the nation’s core national assets for the benefit of Nigerians.
Speaking Tuesday at the 4th meeting of the NCP held in his office at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, the Vice Presiden said the nation’s core national assets are critical to the economic agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration.
He urged members of the NCP to provide constructive leadership for Nigerians, cautioning that posterity will judge them kindly if they make efforts to be fair to the citizens.
He also charged members of the council to play active roles in unlocking national prosperity that President Tinubu works towards every day.
“The work of this council has never been more important, especially given our current economic climate. Maximising value from core national assets is a key tenet of the economic agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and we must, as a council, play our part in unlocking the national prosperity that Mr President works towards every day.
“The agenda today is heavily packed; the items range from very important post-privatization matters to critical sector reform issues that typify the indelible contributions the bureau and this council continue to make towards the attainment of our national aspirations.
“I encourage members of the council to contribute strongly to our discussions today. Posterity will judge us kindly if we make efforts to be fair to the Nigerian people. Our people need our leadership. People will pass judgement on our decisions in years to come,” he said.
During the meeting, the NCP received report presentations from its finance, technical and legal committees which were all approved and ratified.
In his presentation, the Director-General of the Bureau Public Enterprises (BPE), Mr Ayodeji Gbeleyi, sought the approval of the NCP for the proposed 2025 work plan of the BPE, prioritising revenue-generating projects and strengthening of concession management capacity, among others.
Also in his presentation, the Director-General gave an update on the establishment of the Nigerian Independent System Operator (NISO) to the NCP aimed at improving grid management, transparency and reliability.
The NCP also received update reports on the restructured Kano, Kaduna, Benin and Ibadan Electricity Distribution Companies as well as the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission orders on the transfer of regulatory oversight of electricity markets in Edo, Enugu, Ekiti, Imo, Kogi, Oyo and Ondo states.
Other important update reports at the meeting included operations at the Zungeru Hydropower Plant; Kainji and Jebba Hydroelectric Power Plant, and the proposal to relocate four turbines from Afam power plant to Ughelli power plant, all in a bid to increase power supply to the national grid.
Present at the meeting were the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Sen. Abubakar Bagudu; Minister of Power, Mr Adebayo Adelabu; Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, Prof. Joseph Utsev, and other members of the NCP.
