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Nigeria government to privatise Roads and Sea ports

Published

11 years ago

March 13, 2014

The Federal Government has initiated four bills; the National
Transport Commission Bill (2014); Nigeria Railway Bill (2014);
Nigerian Ports and Harbour Authority Bill (2014); and National
Inland Waterways Authority Bill (2014) as part of its plan to
privatise the transport sector.
Minister of Information, Labaran Maku told state House
correspondents after Wednesday’s Federal Executive Council
meeting that the move is aimed at opening up the transport sector to
the public for private participation
According to him, government was interested in removing the legal
bottlenecks that hamper private sector participation in transport and
provision of infrastructures
He explained that government cannot continue to fund all the sectors
of the economy, saying that the proper thing to do was to lead the
way by deepening reforms in the transport sector and other sector of
the economy.
The minister said a Committee headed by the Attorney General of
the Federation and Minister of Justice, Muhammed Adoke (SAN)
has been set up to finalise the preparation of the Bills.
The committee, he said would also include officials from the the
ministries of Works, Aviation, Transport and relevant stakeholders
in the transport sector.
He stated that the passage of the bills would open up lots of
opportunities for Nigerians to enjoy more and better road, rail, sea
and air travel infrastructure.
The Minister explained that the idea is to get the private sector into
construction, maintenance and ownership of seaports, harbours and
airports across the country, with possible privatisation of existing
facilities.
He stated that privatization would encourage competition
productivity and efficiency in the transport sector.
For instance, well maintained private roads and terminals will be a
big boost to easier public transportation while providing jobs for
more Nigerians, he stated.
He assured that in the privatization process, the interest of
Nigerians would be protected to avoid exploitation, saying that the
citizens have a lot to gain in the area of job creation and business
opportunities.
Soon they will privatise Abuja……