Imported User:
The Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) is awaiting further directive from the National Council on Privatisation (NCP) to begin the liquidation of NITEL, the spokesman of the organisation, Mr Chukwuma Nwokoh has said.
Nwokoh made this known in a telephone interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) yesterday in Abuja.
NCP, the body responsible for the sale of government owned companies, is headed by Vice President Namadi Sambo.
Recall that in March, the Federal Government approved the adoption of ``guided liquidation process’’ for the ailing NITEL and Mtel, its mobile subsidiary.
However, that process hit a brick-wall following an order by the Senate Committee on Privatisation to the NCP and the privatisation agency to halt the liquidation process.
Nwokoh told NAN that BPE had responded to some queries raised by the committee, including providing detailed information on the current debt profile of the telecommunications firm.
He, however, did not provide information on the current value of NITEL, but said the current debt profile was about N350 billion, while some organisations, especially government parastatal and agencies were owing it N35 billion.
Prof. Sylvester Monye, a presidential aide, was quoted as saying last week that ``the liabilities of NITEL had gone so bad that nobody wants to buy it’’.
Monye, who is the Special Adviser to the President on Performance, Monitoring and Evaluation, spoke at a one-day forum in Abuja organised by the Nigeria Institute of Advanced Legal Studies.
