FG Plans To Sell Osogbo Machine Tools

THE Bureau of Public Enterprises has said the Nigeria Machine Tools, Osogbo, Osun State, has been slated for the capital market.

According to the Director-General of the BPE, Mr. Alex Okoh, the machine tools, was among other assets of the Federal government that has been put on sale in the 2024 capital market. 

Okoh, in a media chat with newsmen, on Tuesday, also revealed the intention of the agency to sell remaining 40 per cent shares of the government in electricity distribution companies on the capital market in 2024.

Other assets slated for the capital market include Eleme Petrochemicals Company Limited and Nigeria Re-Insurance, Nicon Insurance, according to Okoh.

Okoh said the original intent of the government, following the partial privatisation of Discos, was to list its 40 per cent on the stock market in a bid to democratise its ownership to more Nigerians, not just a core group of investors.

He said: “One of the original intentions of the way that the partial privatisation of the Discos was done was to be able to list that 40 per cent that is still being held by the government in the stock market. And that way you are democratising the ownership of these government entities.” 

The DG said this would enable Nigerians to buy shares in the Discos, adding that the government was working on this.

“Once we resolve the 40 per cent ownership in the Discos. We also plan to take Eleme Petrochemicals to the capital market. We had also planned to take Nigerian Re-Insurance and Nicon Insurance to the capital market, of course, but we then started to have some problems with the former core investor, Jimoh Ibrahim.

“So, there are a lot of issues that are involved in taking some of these entities to the market. The Nigerian Machine Tools in Osogbo is also slated for the capital market.

“Yes, on all fronts, we expect a more active year in 2024 for the BPE, and every step of the way, both in terms of educating the public and also helping us to navigate various stakeholder concerns, we will have to work with the media,” Okoh stated.

Okoh said President Bola Tinubu administration was more open to the idea of privatisation, adding that moves were underway to bring this to fruition.

He noted that it was the intention of the Federal Government to generate N298.4bn from the privatisation of government assets in 2024.