-Okoh Applauded Partial Commercialisation, Gives 6 Months to Complete Task

The Minister of Water Resources, Engr. Suleiman Adamu has said effective ND efficient service delivery in a bid to Actualise food security, job and wealth creation are the main reasons for the partial commercialisation of twelve River Basin Development Authorities (RBDAs) in Nigeria by the Federal Government.

The Minister said this while inaugurating a 9-member Project Implementation Committee (PIC) for the partial commercialisation of four pilot RBDAs in the country.

Adamu said that the exercise is a golden opportunity to contribute to the advancement of the Reform Agenda of President Muhammadu Buhari through integrated River Basin Management “as a vehicle for enhancing food security, jobs and wealth creation as encapsulated in the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan of the Government”.

The four pilot RBDAs are: Sokoto-Rima, Ogun-Osun, Upper Niger River and Niger Delta River Basin Authority.

Adamu who emphasized that the process is not the privatisation of the RBDAs’ assets, expressed happiness that the implementation of the processes leading to the partial commercialisation of the RBDAs commenced successfully with the appointment of a Transaction Adviser and conduct of a pilot study of four out of the 12 RBDAs to evaluate their critical assets and commercial viability towards partially commercializing them.

While commending the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) and the Transaction Adviser for their commitment towards the successful partial commercialisation of the RBDAs to make them sustainable, he charged the committee members to ensure a seamless discharge of their assignment.

In his brief remarks at the occasion, Director General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), Mr. Alex A. Okoh noted that pursuing the partial commercialisation and introduction of PPP in some projects of the RBDAs would lead to the optimization of the RBDAs’ assets and the key resource of water along the value chain of Agriculture, Irrigation, Small scale power generation and portable water for consumption.

Okoh who gave the committee six months to complete its assignment.

The 9-Member committee is drawn from the Federal Ministry of Water Resources, BPE and the four pilot RBDAs.