Posted by Michael Faloseyi, Abuja on
The Federal Government on Thursday set November 2005 deadline for the privatisation of the Eleme Petrochemical Limited.
The Federal Government on Thursday set November 2005 deadline for the privatisation of the Eleme Petrochemical Limited.
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Edmund Daukoru, announced the deadline while inaugurating a seven-man interim board of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation's subsidiary.
In a statement issued at the end of the inauguration, Daukoru emphasised the need to ensure the company was financially viable and competitive.
He said that the company should also be able to grow ancillary industries and expand the scope of Nigeria's economy.
Daukoru, while charging members of the board not to betray the confidence reposed in them by the government, said that the deadline was set in compliance with President Olusegun Obasanjo's directive.
According to the Minister, the privatisation of EPCL, an NNPC subsidiary which came into operation in 1995, will involve divesting 51 per cent of government equity in the company to a core investor that is expected to turn it around.
He also challenged members of the board to measure up to the standard set by their colleagues on the board of Port Harcourt Refinery who had turned around the company's fortune.
Specific terms of reference given the board members include overseeing the company's affairs to ensure its smooth privatisation, and its sustenance as going concern.
The technical board members are Alhaji M.M. Ibrahim who is the chairman, Mrs. Irene N. Chigbue, Mr. J.A. Ibikunle, Dr. A. Yusuf, Mr. A.O. Ayodele.
Mr. Austin Oniwon, who is the Managing Director and Mallam I.S. Njiddah.
The Punch, Friday, July 15, 2005