Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, has among other stakeholders asked for caution in the privatisation of more public enterprises.
He said most of those sold have literally disappeared.
Fashola who was at the House of Representatives Monday for a public hearing on a bill seeking a repeal of the public enterprise privatisation act, and to enact the public assets reform bill, was supported in his position by President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Mr Ayuba Wabba and other key stakeholders, blaming the process for the high level of infrastructural decay and unemployment in Nigeria.
Speaking at a public hearing at the instance of the House Committee on Privatization and Commercialisation, the minister insisted that most privatised public enterprises under the Privatization and Commercialization Act of 1999 in Nigeria disappeared into the air, noting that the key sectors of the economy such as banking, telecommunications and consumer goods production are in dire need of a strong legal and regulatory framework in Nigeria.
“I am not against privatization, but the role of government in privatisation is a just policy. I looked at the list of privatised entities and found out that most of them had disappeared. Where are the scanners after sixteen years of privatization?” he asked.
