Budget Funding: Senate Unaware of FG’s Plan To Sell Properties -Orji

The Senate said on Thursday that it was not aware of the planned sale of 36 Federal Government properties.

The Federal Government, according to a report, had submitted a proposal to sell or concession 36 of its properties between January 2021 and November 2022 to the National Assembly.

However, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Privatisation, Theodore Orji, told our correspondent on Thursday in his office that his panel was unaware of such request.

He said the position of his committee that the federal government assets being put up for sale did not have the input of the National Assembly has not changed.

Orji, a former governor of Abia State, said his committee will critically investigate the circumstances surrounding the sale of the federal assets and come up with a comprehensive report.

He said, “I am not aware of the document you are talking about and nobody has sent such to my committee.

“My committee is in charge of the privatisation projects of the Federal Government and we have always been saying it that we are not being carried along in the sales of national assets.”

The report published by Premium Times, based on the said document, stated that the Nigerian government was proposing to sell or concession no fewer than 36 of its properties to raise funds, largely to finance the 2021 budget.

These properties, according to the report, cut across energy, industries, communication and infrastructural sectors.

It added that they were expected to be sold or concessioned between January 2021 and November 2022.

The document, the report further stated, was submitted to the National Assembly by the Executive and titled “NCP Approved 2021 Work Plan.”

It shows the names of the “projects” (as described by the document), the sale strategy, the duration of the process as well as the cost of the properties.

Top among the properties, the report added are, the Abuja Environmental Protection Board, the Abuja International Conference Centre, some unnamed refineries, the Transmission Company of Nigeria , Abuja Water Board, Nigerian Film Corporation, among others.