From Uche Usim, Abuja
The Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) and the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) are fine-tuning plans to develop cattle ranching and dairy processing factories in three Sokoto, Kano and Imo States, under a Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement.
To this end, the Director General of the BPE, Mr. Alex A. Okoh has assured the NCoS of its willingness to deploy its expertise till the projects are realised.
Also on the card are plans to develop agricultural farms in many other states across the federation; industrial entities and the correctional centres’ land swapping projects.
Okoh gave the assurance during a courtesy visit to the Comptroller General of the NCoS, Mr Haliru Nababa at the Service’s headquarters in Abuja on Wednesday.
Okoh said: “BPE with more than 30 years experience in the reform and optimization of Federal Government’s assets through different strategies including concession, coupled with the additional responsibility that has been assigned to us in the PPP space through the Federal Government’s policy Circular on the Administration of Concession in Nigeria, is ready to collaborate with the service actively by offering its technical expertise and experience to ensure the successful execution and completion of the concession process for the projects”.
He commended the commitment and efforts of the CG and his team towards repositioning the NCoS into a strong, reliable and transformative institution through some of the laudable initiatives and projects being implemented by his leadership.
According to him, the feedback from the Bureau team’s interfacing with the NCoS on the level of professionalism, commitment and desire of the NCoS’ PPP Unit towards ensuring that some of the potential projects of the service across the different sectors of the economy, are developed and optimised by attracting private sector investment through a robust and transparent PPP process, have been encouraging .
He noted that the recent opening of responses to the Request for Qualifications (RfQ) issued by the Service for some of its projects, is a testimony to NCoS readiness and commitment to unlock values and optimise the potentials of those assets.
In his response, the Comptroller General, Haliru Nababa, represented by the Deputy Comptroller General (DCG), Operations (Non-Custodial Duties), Mohammed A. Tukur, Commended the Bureau for its support and guide for the success of its PPP projects which include relocation/infrastructural development, agricultural development and industrial projects.
He recalled that the projects were dear to the NCoS as they would transform and strengthen the institutions of the NCoS because of their potential to unlock value of the Service and the Federal Government at large.
The CG solicited the cooperation of the Bureau in other areas that would add value to Service as the “mandate of BPE cuts across all agencies in the country”.