BPE blames Labour for delay in sale of refineries
* Petrol sells for N43 in Abuja
From Martins Oloja (Abuja), Lekan Okusan, Gbenga Olorunsiwa and Abiodun Fanoro (Lagos)
AN indirect link has been made between the fuel price crisis and Labour demand that refineries be repaired before they are privatised just as it emerged yesterday that 31 Expressions of Interest for their sale have been received by government.
In Abuja, meanwhile, few fuel stations which opened for business yesterday, sold at N43 per litre instead of N38 as directed by the Federal High Court. And in Lagos, a Total filling station at the Ojota end of Ibadan-Iyana Oworonsoki expressway, sold a litre for N41.50.
At a question and answer session with journalists in Abuja, the Director General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE). Dr. Julius Bala, said Labour's demand that refineries be repaired before they are sold has delayed their privatisation.
It is widely believed that privatising the refineries, most of which are now working at very `low capacity, would have breathed life into them and stopped the galloping prices necessitated by importation.
"Labour had insisted that before the privatisation of the refineries, they should be rehabiliated and this is what has slowed government down," Bala said. He blamed the delay on efforts to involve the major oil marketers, most of whom, he said, had not shown interest in participating.
He, however, said that the BPE had received 31 Expressions of Interest (EOIs) and that work was on toward sending information memorantum on the Port Harcourt Refining Company (PHRC), the first to be privatised, to those who submitted applications.
"In a month or so, information will be provided on core investors to be pre-qualified for the next stage and we have updated the information memo as advised by the Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB), who are our advisers," he said.
On NITEL, Bala said the major problem had to do with getting its 2003 annual accounts ready since the company was still operating manually.
He said the board of NITEL ratified the company's management account only last week, noting that the BPE could not conduct Initial Public Offer (IPO) without accounts.
In the case of AFRIBANK, the director-general said that following the resolution of the controversy over the acquisition of the government shares, the BPE last week refunded the initial core investors their money with interest as directed by the National Council on Privatisation (NCP).
A new strategy, he said, would be adopted in the privatisation of the bank.
As of August last year, the BPE received 15 EOIs from prospective core investors and is awaiting the approval of the NCP to proceed to the next stage of the transaction. Thirty five per cent of the Federal Government shares would be privatised through public offer and allocated to the federal constituencies in the country, Bala said.
On the BPE's relationship with the World Bank, he said the absence of what he called basic framework and structures made it difficult for it to access the loan facility provided by the international financial institution.
However, he said, the issues hampering rapid draw down of funds had been sorted out in the last two months, resulting in "16 No. objections" on the bureau's requests by the World Bank.
A few filling stations in Abuja yesterday reverted to N38 per litre instead of the N43 per litre prescribed by the latest court ruling.
Some of the filling stations that changed from N50 per litre to N43 per litre are Oando at Zone Three opposite Hali Brothers, Total at Area Three near National Youths Service Corps (NYSC) headquarters and Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) mega station at the Central Area.
Meanwhile, at Gate C of the Federal Secretariat, three police vehicles were on guard.
The Guardian observed yesterday that private vehicles were no longer allowed into the President Villa (State House). There was a shuttle bus to convey cleared visitors and workers who did not use marked State House (SH) cars.
It was not clear if the Labour crisis precipitated the new arrangement.
Despite the presence of some workers, the strike has actually paralysed public service activities as only serious assignments were being attended.
Unlike previous strikes where hostility between police and Labour had been largely heightened as the strike progressed, the current action was devoid of any form of enmity between the two parties.
The police were on hand yesterday to ensure peace and order as NLC members went round Lagos State.
In what could be described as a procession of vehicles on the Apapa-Oshodi Expressway, mobile police were on the labour entourage with some of the NLC members exchanging pleasantries with the law enforcement agents.
As the strike entered its second day, business activities in Lagos metropolis were at a low ebb with a few commercial vehicles plying the road. But it was a day of bountiful harvest for commercial motorcyclist in the state as they charge exorbitant fares.
A commercial motorcyclist in Itire, who gave his name as Muyiwa Idowu, said: "On a normal day when there is no strike, I make between N1200 and N1500 but during this strike, I am making three times that amount. Like yesterday (Wednesday) when the strike started, I made N5,500 - N6,500. A journey from Iyana Itire to Oshodi costs N200. So I would tell you that this strike is a blessing to me."
He further said that people have started realising that they cannot continue to stay at home as some of them had defied the NLC order by displaying their wares.
For Mr. Okey Austin, a banker, all the strike actions called by the NLC had not been successful as the government always called them bluff.
"To be candid with you, embarking on strike is an obsolete tool to fight the government and instead of lessening the plight of the people, it always compounds their problem as most people are denied their daily living. So, I do not think NLC should continue using strike but they should always engage the government in dialogue to resolve any national issue." Austin said.
In his view, President Olusegun Obasanjo's trip has shown that government did not care about the NLC action and that it is the people that will always suffer whenever there is strike.
According to Austin, the NLC is really fighting a just cause which long-term effects will affect every individual in the country. He accused the government, of not carrying the people along in its deregulation policy.
All but one of the filling stations visited by The Guardian in Oshodi, Isolo, Ejigbo and Ikotun-Egbe were yet to re-open .
The only station that opened and attended to customers was Mobil, at Hostel Bus Stop, Egbe. Although the station did not display price list, The Guardian investigation showed that it was selling petrol at N49.80.
The station manager said it opened to enable it sell off its old stock, to prepare it for the take-off of the N38.00 pre-February 2004 directive of the Federal High Court, Abuja.
