11th August, 2011
The Senate Committee probing Federal Government’s privatisation and commercialisation exercise today ordered the arrest of the Managing Director of Transcorp Hotel, Abuja.
The committee gave the order after he failed to appear before it today.
The chairman of Transcorp is Otunba Funsho Lawal.
The Senate yesterday asked the Bureau of Public Enterprises, BPE, which carried out the privatisation exercise, to furnish it with details of the earnings accruing from the exercise from 1999 to date.
The privatisation and commercialisation of government enterprises has been marred in huge corruption, with allegations that most of the government owned companies were sold to cronies of people in government at give-away prices.
Stakeholders in the privatised Nigeria Insurance Corporation Limited, NICON, alleged that Jimoh Ibrahim, the chairman of Global Fleet, fleeced the company of N6.7 billion after it was sold to him.
Ibrahim has, however, denied the allegation.
There have been startling revelations about the fraud that characterised the privatisation exercise during the administration of former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo.
The Senate Committee headed by Senator Ahmad Lawan, has been holding public hearing on the exercise in Abuja.
—Oluokun Ayorinde/Abuja