*Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari AP Photo/Sunday Alamba.
28 September 2016, Lagos – Amid near conclusion of decision by the federal government to sell some national assets over fiscal stress, more industry analysts have thrown more light on the issues involved.
Director General of West African Institute for Financial and Economic Management, WAIFEM, Professor Akpan Ekpo, has warned against the sale of the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Company, NLNG, and other national assets, as doing so would not take the country out of the present economic woes, but would plunge the country deeper into the crisis.
Ekpo, an economist, a former Director of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, was also former Vice Chancellor of the University of Uyo. WAIFEM was established by the Governors of the Central Banks of The Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone.
In an emailed response to Vanguard’s questions over the assets sale controversy, Ekpo disclosed that if the Federal Government decides to proceed with the sale, Nigerian elites with their foreign collaborators would buy the assets to further their self interest, while thousands of Nigerians would be thrown into the labour market.
He said, “Selling government assets, oil or non-oil, will not take the economy out of the present recession. We have privatized government assets previously and it never worked. We unbundled the PHCN yet power supply remains epileptic. Nigerians need to know the assets to be sold. NLNG for example is not doing badly so why sell it?
“Previously privatized governments assets are littered all over the country. Selling of government assets would throw thousands of Nigerians into the labour market looking for jobs. “Recessions are part and parcel of a market economy. What do you sell when another recession sets in? Selling government assets during a recession would only enrich few Nigerians at the expense of the working people.”
Ekpo argued that the present recession provides an opportunity to better manage the economy to minimize its adverse effects, adding that the economy needs structural reforms implemented through an economic development blue-print.
According to him, “the Nigerian economy has suffered for long from government failure and market failure, selling government assets would exacerbate the problem”. Instead, he advised that government should borrow from external and domestic sources to finance capital projects, provide states with conditional loans to pay backlog of salaries, hence, addressing both the demand and supply problems of the economy.
“The Nigerian Labour Congress, civil societies and stakeholders interested in the Nigerian project should resist any attempt to sell public assets acquired by public funds particularly when these assets are performing satisfactorily. Do not be surprised if there is a call to obtain an IMF facility. History is repeating itself,” he added.
However, speaking in the same vein, Mr. Adeola Adenikinju, Professor of Economics, Department of Economics and Director, Centre for Petroleum, Energy Economics and Law at the University of Ibadan, advised the Federal Government to privatise the refineries or sell off a substantial amount of its stake in the entities.
According to him, these are assets that will not only increase government income but also in the medium term reduce the huge foreign exchange we spend on petroleum products imports.
- Vanguard
