The Vice President, Kashim Shettima, has called for efforts to better the lives of Nigerians, noting that citizens are in need of quality leadership.
Vice President Shettima said there was every need to maximize the values from the nation’s core national assets for the benefit of Nigerians.
Senator Shettima stated this on Tuesday during the 4th meeting of the National Council on Privatisation (NCP), held in his office at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
He urged members to provide constructive leadership for Nigerians, cautioning that posterity will judge them kindly if they make efforts to be fair to the citizens.
Shettima, according to a statement from his spokesman, Stanley Nkwocha, stressed that the nation’s core national assets are critical to the economic agenda of President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
“The work of this council has never been more important, especially given our current economic climate. Maximising value from core national assets is a key tenet of the economic agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and we must, as a council, play our part in unlocking the national prosperity that Mr. President works towards every day.
“The agenda today is heavily packed; the items range from very important post-privatization matters to critical sector reform issues that typify the indelible contributions the bureau and this council continue to make towards the attainment of our national aspirations.
“I encourage members of the council to contribute strongly to our discussions today. Posterity will judge us kindly if we make efforts to be fair to the Nigerian people. Our people need our leadership. People will pass judgement on our decisions in years to come,” Shettima said.
During the meeting, the Council received report presentations from its finance, technical and legal committees which were all approved and ratified.
In his presentation to the Council, the Director General of the Bureau Public Enterprises (BPE), Mr. Ayodeji Gbeleyi, sought the approval of the NCP for the proposed 2025 work plan of the Bureau, prioritizing revenue-generating projects and strengthening of concession management capacity, among others.
Also in his presentation, the DG gave an update on the establishment of the Nigerian Independent System Operator (NISO) to the National Council on Privatisation aimed at improving grid management, transparency and reliability.
Council also received update reports on the restructured Kano, Kaduna, Benin and Ibadan Electricity Distribution Companies as well as the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission orders on the transfer of regulatory oversight of electricity markets in Edo, Enugu, Ekiti, Imo, Kogi, Oyo and Ondo States.
Other important update reports at the meeting included operations at the Zungeru Hydropower Plant; Kainji and Jebba Hydroelectric Power Plant, and the proposal to relocate 4 turbines from Afam power plant to Ughelli power plant, all in a bid to increase power supply to the national grid.
Present at the meeting were the Ministers of Budget and Economic Planning, Sen. Abubakar Bagudu; Power, Mr Adebayo Adelabu; Water Resources and Sanitation, Prof. Joseph Utsev, as well as other members of the NCP.