Obasanjo
I regret not privatising NNPC – Ex President says
OBJ said this at a maritime stakeholders’ conference organised by
the ministry of transportation in Lagos state, on Monday, May 16, 2016.
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has called for the privatisation of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), National Inland Waterways Authority and the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA).
OBJ also said he regretted not privatising the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
He
said this at a maritime stakeholders’ conference organised by the
ministry of transportation in Lagos state, on Monday, May 16, 2016.
The former President said “I
was instrumental to the reform and establishment of the NNPC from the
Nigerian National Oil Corporation. Had I known that it would be
mismanaged, I would have done something better. I would have privatised
it and put it on the stock Exchange.
“The
NLNG didn’t go the way of the NNPC because of the way it was organised.
Fifty-one per cent is owned by private investors, both foreign and
indigenous, while 49 per cent is owned by the government. In fact, the
NLNG has been making money ever since the initial capital investment.
From three trains, we are going to seven trains.”
OBJ also added that “The
institutions that are important in the country, which have not worked,
we have to make them work. We can use the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas
company as a model.
“We should look into
these areas and think outside of the box. Until the Nigerian Maritime
Administration and Safety Agency became a place where people stole
money, nobody knew much about it. Now, everybody wants to work there.
Look at the National Inland Waterways Authority, the Maritime Academy of
Nigeria, Oron and the Nigeria Ports Authority, which we tried to
privatise. These are institutions we can make to work.”
A former Governor of Abia state, Orji Uzor Kalu accused former President Obasanjo of using anti-corruption agencies to settle political scores.
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