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Jonathan Sacks BPE Boss over $23.6m Transmission Company of Nigeria Contract

By on November 28, 2012

Former Director General of Bureau of Public Enterprises, Ms. Bolanle Onagoruwa

The Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) boss, Ms. Bolanle Onagoruwa was sacked yesterday by President Jonathan following the flip-flopping over of the $23.6m Transmission Company of Nigeria contract awarded to Canadian firm, Manitoba.

A source close to the Presidency said, “Most likely, the Presidency has had enough of her failures, having failed to have an effective grasp of the privatisation process”

Mrs. Onagoruwa was sacked with immediate effect through a statement signed by the media aide to the Vice President, Mr. Umar Sani.

The statement reads, “Mr. President extends his sincere appreciation to Mrs. Bolanle Onagoruwa for her services to the nation and wishes her the best in her future endeavours.

“The Director General of the Bureau for Public Enterprises (BPE), Mrs. Bolanle Onagoruwa, has been relieved of her appointment with immediate effect. She is to hand over to the most Senior Director in the Bureau, Mr. Benjamin Ezra Dikki, who is to hold the position in an acting capacity.

“Mr. President extends his sincere appreciation to Mrs. Bolanle Onagoruwa for her services to the nation and wishes her the best in her future endeavours.”

It could be recalled that a year earlier the Senate demanded she be fired.

The agitation for her removal had to do with disagreement over bids for power firms and the approval of a $23.6m management contract for the Transmission Company of Nigeria awarded to a Canadian firm, Manitoba Hydro International.

Her removal came as a shock, the named acting DG of BPE, Dikki is due for retirement by December 1.

In another development, the Sambo led National Council on Privatisation (NCP), was not in conformity with the handling of the BPE by the former DG.

An insider, who spoke in confidence, said, “The government has not been comfortable with Onagoruwa since the bids were conducted for power plants. The NCP felt the BPE was not circumspect enough to have allowed the bids to run into a storm, which led to the resignation of the former Minister of Power, Prof. Barth Nnaji.

“As a matter of fact, when Nnaji left office, a re-evaluation panel raised by the office of the vice president rejected the bid for Afam Electricity Generation Plant by the consortium (Skipper Nigeria Limited) traced to the ex-minister.

“The decision, however, created a fresh, crisis following a protest over the sidelining of the Bureau of Public Enterprises by the Office of the Vice-President in constituting the Re-evaluation Committee.

“Instead of allowing the BPE to drive the re-evaluation process as enshrined in the Privatisation Law, the Chairman of the NCP asked an Assistant Director in the Ministry of Power to head the new panel.”

Another source, however, said the management contract for the Transmission Company of Nigeria awarded to a Canadian firm, Manitoba Hydro International, by the BPE, was responsible for her sack.

The source said, “The Presidency, at a stage, cancelled the contract only for the President to restore it. Such somersault does not help the system and it could erode foreign investors’ confidence.

“At a stage, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, came out to clarify that the BPE awarded the contract, contrary to the provisions of the Public Procurement Act, 2007.”

Abati said, “The BPE has no power to approve a management contract, according to the provision of Section 16 sub section 4 of the 2007 Public Procurement Act. That section says that the BPE must obtain a certificate of no objection from the Bureau of Public Procurement.

“Another section of the Act says that certain contracts must be approved by the Federal Executive Council. The management contract in question is $23.6m, which is above the approved threshold of BPE. The vice-president is a member of FEC.

“For the BPE to go ahead and approve that contract simply means that due process was not followed. It is a matter of due process, a matter of best practice; it is not a personality matter. The infraction was committed by the BPE.”