President
Goodluck Jonathan on Tuesday relieved Ms. Bolanle Onagoruwa of her
appointment as the Director-General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises.
The
decision was contained in a two-paragraph statement made available by
the Senior Special Assistant to the Vice-President on Media, Mr. Umar
Sani.
Though
no reason was given for her sacking, our correspondents gathered that
Onagoruwa might have lost her job following the controversies that
surrounded the management contract for the Transmission Company of
Nigeria awarded to a Canadian firm, Manitoba Hydro International.
The
Presidency had earlier announced the cancellation of the contract
because of alleged series of infractions in the award process on the
part of the BPE under Onagoruwa’s watch.
The agency was said to have awarded the contract in violation of the provisions of the Public Procurement Act, 2007.
But Jonathan, during his last media chat, claimed that the contract was not cancelled.
The management contract was later reported to have received ratification from the Bureau of Public Procurement.
The
statement announcing her sacking read, “The Director-General of the
Bureau of Public Enterprises, Ms. Bolanle Onogoruwa, has been relieved
of her appointment with immediate effect. She is to hand over to the
most senior Director in the Bureau, Mr. Benjamin Ezra Dikki, who is to
hold the position in an acting capacity.
“Mr.
President extends his sincere appreciation to Ms. Bolanle Onogoruwa for
her services to the nation and wishes her the best in her future
endeavours.”
Onagoruwa
has, however, been in the eye of the storm for a while now with the two
chambers of the National Assembly separately calling for her sacking
over the management of the privatisation process.
Apart
from the Manitoba contract saga, some observers believed that the
President might have bowed to pressure by the National Assembly.
The
Senate had recently adopted the report of its ad hoc committee on
privatisation and commercialisation, which called for Onagoruwa’s
sacking for alleged gross incompetence in the management of the process
and for alleged illegal and fraudulent sale of the five per cent of
Federal Government’s residual shares in the Eleme Petrochemicals Company
Limited.
The House of Representatives had also made a similar call on the President to sack Onagoruwa.
While
reacting to the development on Tuesday, the Chairman, Senate Committee
on Public Accounts, Senator Ahmed Lawan, commended the President for
finally removing Onagoruwa.
Lawan
was the Chairman of the ad hoc committee that probed privatisation of
government enterprises since 1999 till date and recommended the sacking
of the former BPE director-general.
The committee also recommended the criminal investigation of past directors-generals of BPE and appropriately sanction them.
Onagoruwa’s
alleged sins, according to the committee, include her role in the
attempt to fraudulently sell off Federal Government’s five per cent
equity in the Eleme Petrochemicals.
Lawan
said, “In addition to what has happened (Onagoruwa’s sacking), the
Federal Government should implement the resolutions of the Senate.
“When the Senate takes a resolution, it is in the interest of Nigerians and not hurt anyone.”
He
further cited the recent Supreme Court judgment, which invalidated the
sale of the Aluminium Smelter Company to Rusal, saying that it was a
fraudulent deal between BPE and the Russian firm.
Lawan said the judgment also confirmed the recommendation of the Senate that the sale be revoked.
He
added that Onagoruwa showed gross incompetence in the handling of the
privatisation process and ought to have lost her job a long time ago.
Punch Nigeria
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