In a bid to revamp failed privatised enterprises in the country, the Senate Ad-hoc Committee on Privatisation yesterday stormed Lagos State to investigate the failed enterprises.
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Chairman of the committee Senator Ahmed Lawan revealed this when he led other members of the committee on a courtesy visit to the Lagos State governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, at the Government House in Ikeja, Lagos.
He assured that the committee would be thorough in the investigation of performances of public enterprises privatised by the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) in the last 13 years.
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He said the committee members would visit privatised public corporations in Lagos such as Nigerdock, Daily Times and Nigerian Ports Authority to ascertain their level of performance.
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Lawan said: “The government is worried that, after a decade of the privatization exercise, the privatized enterprises have not been performing. A majority of them, about 80per cent, have collapsed. This is a source of worry because government had to divest its interests in the privatised companies because of the inefficiencies that characterized the management of these enterprises
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“For over 10 years, these companies have not showed improved efficiency, and their management has not shown improved productivity. Even the opportunities that come with privatization such as job creation have not been forthcoming.”
Responding, Governor Babatunde Fashola agreed that the privatized companies had failed the nation, adding that their investigation should be done carefully in order not to send the wrong signals to foreign investors.