Teddy Oscar, Abuja
Following a motion raised by Hon. Ibrahim Shehu Gusau on Tuesday on the ‘need to stop (the) liquidation of NITEL/MTEL’ by the duo of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) and National Council on Privatisation (NCP), the House of Representatives has summoned the director general of BPE, Benjamin Dikki, to explain why the bureau refused to comply with the resolutions of the House on the need to stop the planned liquidation of the Nigeria Telecommunications Limited (NITEL) and Mobile Telecommunications Limited (MTEL) by BPE and NCP.
The lawmakers also ordered both agencies to immediately stop the liquidation of NITEL/MTEL in the interest of the public.
It would be recalled that the House had, in a report of an investigation done by its committees on Privatisation, Commercialisation, ICT and Finance considered and adopted on October 3, 2013, directed the Federal Government to halt the sale of the of the two national communication companies for reasons that included security risk and undervaluation.
“Despite the House resolution on the matter, which was communicated to the NCP and BPE, these agencies became defiant and initiated the process of liquidation, which is almost concluded.
“The information credited to BPE on (the) appointment of a liquidator for NITEL/MTEL and the continuation of the transaction with guided liquidation contrary to the House resolution,” Gusau said, while urging the House to stop the ongoing liquidation.
