By Nnenna Ezeah
The Nigerian Senate has absolved the Bureau of Public Enterprises, BPE, of being responsible for the failure of Federal Government establishments that were sold to private individuals under the ongoing privatisation programme.

The lawmakers, would rather put the blame on the companies that bought over the entities and failed to keep to the terms of the purchase agreements.

The Chairman, Senate Committee on Privatization and Commercialization, Senator Olugbenga Obadara, said it is wrong to blame the Bureau for the failure of some privatized enterprises to perform, saying that the blame is on the investors who failed to properly manage them.

He noted that in every transaction, there are agreements and if the investor failed to meet his side of the bargain, he, and not BPE, should be held responsible.

Obadara, who led members of the committee on a recent visit to the BPE in Abuja, therefore, urged the BPE, to organize an all-stakeholders’ retreat, which will address the problems militating against the smooth operations of privatized enterprises in the country.

He argued that the forum will afford the relevant stakeholders the opportunity to understand and appreciate the problems the Bureau faces in the discharge of its mandate.

While calling for synergy between the Bureau and the committee to ensure the success of privatization in the country, he urged the BPE to step up its post-privatization monitoring activities, adding that the committee would not shirk its responsibility as it will wield the big stick on all privatized enterprises which fail to comply with the covenants they signed at the takeover of enterprises.

“The committee will support the Bureau in its task and the Senate will not do anything that will jeopardize the operations of BPE.”

Also speaking, the Director General of BPE, Mrs. Bolanle Onagoruwa, said the on-going discourse between BPE and the committee will go a long way in fashioning invaluable ideas, perspectives and suggestions on how best to attain the economic reforms and privatization programme of the Federal Government.

She informed the Senators that seven reform bills are almost ready for consideration by the Federal Executive Council, FEC, and appealed for their support in ensuring the passage of the bills into law when forwarded to them.

The Bills, according to Onogoruwa, are the National Transport Commission Bill, Ports and Harbour Reform Bill, the Railway Bill, the Inland Waterways Bill, the Road Sector Reform Bill, Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Bill, and the Postal Bill.

The privatization boss who acknowledged the impressive performance of some privatized enterprises in the country, however, said that there are a number of them that have failed to live up to expectation and the terms of the share purchase agreement.

“The idea of privatization is to ensure prompt achievement of economic value envisaged for the Nigerian economy through the fulfilment of contractual, legally binding agreements and the growth of the privatized enterprises.

“Through post-privatization monitoring, we gather information on privatized enterprises, identify appropriate legal and regulatory business climate and identify policy bottlenecks for necessary adjustments. Our challenge today at the BPE is to ensure that enterprises that are experiencing challenges work.”