DPP Suggests Review Of Privatisation Act

The National Secretary of the Democratic Peoples Party, Alhaji Mohammed Danazumi, yesterday, called on the Federal Government to review the Privatisation Act and its implementation.

Danazumi gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

The Federal Government enacted the Privatisation Act in 1999 which created the National Council on Privatisation with the mandate to commercialise some government corporations.

Danazumi said the implementation of the privatisation policy had rather compounded poverty in the country and harped on the need to implement the policy with a human face.

He said that “policies by past governments caused negative impact on our economy and privatisation is the worst of them all.

“Policies such as the Structural Adjustment Programme under the Ibrahim Babangida administration impoverished our economy.

“The placement of embargo on employment by the Gen. Sani Abacha regime also caused poverty, but the privatisation exercise under President Olusegun Obasanjo’s government worsened the situation.’’

Danazumi also attributed the nation’s insecurity to what he called “poor economic policies’’, noting that unemployment and poverty had given rise to insecurity.

“We need to overhaul our economic policies as well as economic institutions to address the problems of poverty and insecurity.

“We also need to review our policies and create a productive economy which will absorb our unemployed youths.’’(NAN)
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