…Issues code of ethics for directors
The new Director General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), Mr. Alex Okoh, formally took over the reins of authority at the bureau in Abuja on Friday, April 21, 2017 with a pledge to ensure that privatised enterprises in the country give services to the generality of Nigerians.
At a brief ceremony attended by the management team of the bureau in the Director General’s Conference Room, BPE’s new helmsman said what was required of everybody was dedication to duty to achieve the desired goal.
He said his administration would also work to sustain the positive image of the bureau while at the same time strive to change the negative perception held by some people about the BPE in the execution of its mandate.
Okoh promised to step up the post-privatisation monitoring activities of the bureau to ensure that owners of privatised enterprises live up to the covenants they signed with the bureau so that Nigerians can derive maximum benefits from the privatised enterprises.
He thanked the former Acting Director General of the bureau, Dr. Vincent Onome Akpotaire, for successfully piloting the affairs of the bureau in the last 14 months and called for synergy during the transition period.
Earlier, Akpotaire, while handing over to the new DG, said that given his background as a seasoned administrator, the management and staff of the bureau are confident that he would succeed in his new assignment and give the bureau a new lease of life.
On their part, members of the management team pledged to co-operate with the new DG to take the bureau to greater heights. He was later conducted round the offices where he familiarised with the staff.
Okoh studied Sociology at the University of Benin and holds a Master’s degree in Banking & Finance from the University of Ibadan. He is an alumnus of the Harvard Business School.
Meanwhile, the bureau has instituted a code of ethics for directors and alternate directors representing BPE on the boards of privatised enterprises on behalf of the Federal Government, sources at the Presidency have disclosed.
It was learnt that the code of ethics applies to directors sitting on the board of privatised enterprises in which the Federal Government has equity or interest and any such person that may be nominated to act as alternate director on the director’s behalf. The code is the brainchild of Okoh, who was named the Director General of BPE on April 13, 2017.