Economy
BPE Begs FG to Sell Public Assets to Clear N2.28trn Budget Deficit
By Adedapo Adesanya
In order to fund the proposed N10.33 trillion 2020 budget, the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) has called on the federal government to privatize government owned enterprises to settle the N2.28 trillion budget deficit.
This stance was made known by the Director-General of the BPE, Mr Alex Okoh, at an interactive forum with the Senate Committee on Privatisation at the National Assembly and was contained in an official statement released over the weekend.
He called for the sale of the federal government assets which were not bringing in revenues for the government but were becoming liabilities as these state-owned enterprises were placing undue pressure on the lean public purse by way of subventions.
He said that it wasn’t rational to constantly fund budget deficit year in, year out with local and foreign borrowing when there are abundance of national assets that could be sold to fund the federal government’s fiscal programmes.
“It is not good to keep borrowing on a yearly basis to finance budget deficit when a lot of very valuable national assets are lying fallow and moribund.
“Proceeds from outright privatisation or concession of the moribund assets should serve as veritable sources in funding the budget since the assets are more or less becoming national liabilities,” he was quoted to have informed the Senate as saying.
He noted that the BPE had contributed N135 billion out of the N220 billion that it was expected to generate for the 2019 fiscal budget. This is more than 60 percent of the expected sum.
Mr Okoh explained that the N135 billion so far been generated by the bureau was realised through the sale of the Afam Electricity Generation Company (Afam Power Plc and Afam Three Fast Power Limited) and the re-privatisation of the Yola Electricity Distribution Company.
He also said that the sale of 29 percent of the Federal Government’s shares in the Geregu Power plant contributed to the sum.
Mr Okoh called on the National Assembly to critically look at the funding framework for the agency, but expressed optimism that the agency would meet its target for the 2020 fiscal budget.
He disclosed that out of the N2 billion allocated to the agency yearly from the national purse for its operations, N1.5 billion is for staff emoluments through the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS).
“Of the N500 million that is supposed to come to the Bureau for overheads and capital expenditure, cent of the amount is eventually released to the Bureau against what is obtained in other revenue generating agencies of the federal government.”
He, however, expressed optimism that the bureau would meet its target for the 2020 fiscal budget.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) is seeking a reduction in import duty exemptions, which rose to N34 trillion, limiting its ability to increase its revenue generation threshold.
The Comptroller-General of the Customs Service, Mr Adewale Adeniyi, disclosed that the value of import duty exemption certificate approvals increased to that level in 2025, describing the policy as one of the major factors restricting its revenue generation.
At an investigative session of the Senate Committee on Finance with revenue-generating agencies in Abuja on Monday, Mr Adeniyi explained that government fiscal policies have continued to impact the revenue-generating capacity of the Customs Service, both positively and negatively.
“The NCS would have generated significantly higher revenue over the years if not for government-approved import duty waivers and other external factors affecting collections,” he said.
He added that the Import Duty Exemption Certificate scheme, introduced in March 2020, accounted for about N34 trillion in approvals in 2025, with nearly 60 per cent covering duty-free importation of military hardware due to Nigeria’s prevailing security challenges.
Other government-backed duty waivers, he noted, covered the importation of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), electric and hybrid vehicles, healthcare equipment and medical supplies, industrial machinery and manufacturing inputs, as well as food import intervention programmes.
While acknowledging the impact of the waivers on Customs revenue, Mr Adeniyi argued that fiscal policy should not be assessed solely on the basis of revenue generation but also on its broader economic and social objectives.
He, however, urged the federal government to establish stronger monitoring mechanisms to ensure beneficiaries of duty waivers deliver the intended economic outcomes, including lower consumer prices, increased local production and improved healthcare access.
The committee also expressed displeasure over the absence of several heads of government agencies invited to the hearing, including the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Industrial Training Fund (ITF), and the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Jabi.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Mr Sani Musa, warned that the affected chief executives must appear at the committee’s next sitting or face severe sanctions under the Senate’s rules.
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By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange rose by 0.40 per cent on Monday, July 13, buoyed by buying interest in 11 Plc, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc and UBN Property Plc, which offset the profit-taking in Food Concepts Plc, the parent company of Chicken Republic.
11 Plc gained N20.69 to end at N227.64 per share compared with last Friday’s price of N206.95 per share, CSCS Plc grew by N1.83 to N91.48 per unit from N89.65 per unit, and UBN Property Plc added 1 Kobo to sell at N1.81 per share versus N1.80 per share.
On the flip side, Food Concepts Plc depreciated by 24 Kobo to close at N2.45 per unit, in contrast to the preceding session’s N2.69 per unit.
As a result, the market capitalisation increased by N9.2 billion to N2.587 trillion from N2.578 trillion, and the NASD Security Index (NSI) improved by 15.33 points to 4,311.67 points from 4,296.34 points.
Yesterday, the volume of securities traded by investors surged by 615.9 per cent to 9.1 million units from the previous 1.3 million units, and the value of securities rose by 997.1 per cent to N320.4 million from the preceding session’s N29.2 million, while the number of deals decreased by 12.5 per cent to 28 deals from last Friday’s 32 deals.
At the close of trades, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units worth N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 73.9 million units exchanged for N5.2 billion.
GNI Plc also closed the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units traded for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units transacted for N415.7 million.
