Ondo to buy FG’s share in wood coy –Akeredolu

Benjamin Umuteme

Abuja

Ondo State governor, Rotimi Akeredolu has said that the state is willing to buy up federal government’s equity in the Nigerian-Romanian Wood Industry (NIROWI), situated in Akure, Ondo state.
The governor said this when he received a delegation from the Bureau of Public Enterprises led by its Director General, Alex A. Okoh in his office.
The BPE delegation had gone to Ondo State to discuss the divestment of the Federal Government’s equity in the Nigerian-Romanian Wood Industry (NIROWI).
The governor also said that the state would apply to the Federal Executive Council (FEC) to allow it buy over its 30.10% equity in the company to the state, noting that “a 49 hectare company is not what any government will toy with, if not for nothing, at least for the strategic value and location of the land”.
According to him, the company could be revived, rehabilitated and used for another manufacturing company or converted to an industrial/skill acquisition park in Ondo town.
He commended the Bureau for the proposal to divest the federal government’s interest in NIROWI to the Ondo State Government, stressing that the DG’s visit would dispel the wrong impression by citizens of the state that “NIROWI belongs to the state government which has abandoned it”.
Earlier, BPEs Director-General, Mr. Alex A. Okoh, said the meeting was a follow-up to the approval by the National Council on Privatisation (NCP) to divest the Federal Government’s 30.10% in NIROWI to the Ondo State Government.
Giving the history of the company, the DG said it was incorporated in 1974, began production of wood, furniture and plywood in 1979 and shut down in 1997 due to mismanagement, inadequate working capital and frequent breakdown of plant and equipment.

Leave a Reply