The Federal Government is worried over the lingering legal tussle surrounding the sale of the Aluminium Smelter Company of Nigeria, the Director General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises, Mr Alex Okoh, has said.
A statement issued by the BPE said Okoh spoke when he paid a courtesy call on Akwa Ibom State Governor, Udom Emmanuel.
Okoh noted that if ALSCON was functioning, it would have provided about 8,500 direct jobs and 35,000 indirect jobs to Nigerians, with Akwa-Ibom being the greatest beneficiary.
A legal dispute over the controversial sale recently led to an Abuja Federal High Court ordering that Okoh be remanded in prison custody for 30 days for contempt.
The order was however overturned by a panel of the Court of Appeal, which granted BPE’s application for stay of the FHC ruling.
The legal tussle over the ownership of the aluminium plant is between BFIG, an indigenous company, and a Russian firm, Rusal.
BFIG had filed a suit to reclaim the ownership of ALSCON which it claimed was re-awarded to Rusal after it had won the bid for it in the aftermath of the company’s privatisation by the then President Olusegun Obasanjo administration.
The company had asked the court to make an order for the enforcement and crystallisation of the mutually agreed Share Purchase Agreement.
The High Court and the Court of Appeal had ruled in favour of BFIG as the owner of ALSCON, and in April 2019, the company instituted contempt proceedings against Okoh, for allegedly disobeying court judgments.
During the courtesy call on the governor, Okoh also commended Akwa Ibom for blazing the trail among states in Nigeria by floating an airline, which, according to him, met international standards.
Outlining the bureau’s achievements, Okoh explained that since it was set up over 30 years ago, BPE had reformed more than 230 public enterprises in various sectors of the economy.
He added that the country’s power sector would have collapsed by now, had the bureau not carried out the privatisation exercise in 2013.
However, he noted that the Federal Government was addressing hiccups being experienced in the sector.
Emmanuel pledged to support BPE’s activities.
The governor expressed satisfaction with the efforts being put in place by the Federal Government through the BPE to resolve issues surrounding the sale of ALSCON.
According to the governor, the BPE has been playing a stabilising role in the economy, as “government was not usually a good manager of businesses but provides an enabling environment for businesses to thrive”.
Emmanuel, who was represented by his deputy, Moses Ekpo, said the floating of an airline – Ibom Air – was in line with his administration’s efforts to industrialise the state.
He disclosed that, soon, the airline would be floated on the capital market for Nigerians to take up shares.
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