The Federal Government on Friday approved the extension of the concession periods of two operators at the Tin Can Island Port Complex (TCIPC), Lagos by five years each.
The extension was granted during the first meeting of the National Council on Privatisation (NCP) for the year which was presided over by Vice President Namadi Sambo at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The Director-General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), Benjamin Dikki, told State House correspondents at the end of the meeting that the extension of concession period was granted based on an application by the concessionaires, Joseph Dam Port Services Nigeria Limited and Five Star Logistics.
He said when the lease was granted to Joseph Dam, there was a court case that dragged on for over four years that restrained the firm from taking over and conducting its obligations of the contract.
Dikki said that at the time Five Star Logistics got its lease of the RORO Terminal within the TCIPC, there were other obligations that government was committed to like dredging of the ports and mending of some of the collapsed parts of the ports which have not been done.
“The National Council of Privatisation reviewed the matter holistically and has graciously granted a five-year extension to Five Star Logistics in respect of the RORO Terminals in Tin Can Island,” he said.
The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Power, Ambassador Godknows Igali, also said the council had directed the BPE to move immediately with the relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies and look into all issues that have come up during the privatisation of the power sector.
Such issues, he said, included those of genuine Power Holding Company of Nigeria’s workers who have not been paid their pensions.
He said the money of those under that category has been kept with the Central Bank of Nigeria in order to ensure that they are paid after ongoing verification exercise.
Igali said the Federal Government was closely monitoring the new owners of the power sector in order to ensure that they deliver stable power to Nigerians.
He regretted that power installations across the country are currently facing what he described as unprecedented massive scale vandalism.
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