Over the weekend, workers in the nation’s power sector, rubbished the agenda of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, presidential candidate for the 2023 election, Atiku Abubakar, describing it as self-serving.
According to the workers, Atiku’s power sector agenda is aimed at continuing the appropriation of national assets to cronies.
Acting under the aegis of National Union of Electricity Employees, NUEE, the workers said they were alerting Nigerians about the motive of the PDP candidate who they feared, seemed to want to finish what was left of Nigeria’s common patrimony when he headed the National Council on Privatisation during the first term of President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration, with him as vice president.
In a statement, entitled “Three Point Agenda Dead on Arrival,” General Secretary of NUEE, Joe Ajaero, contended that the three-point agenda released last Thursday by Atiku, targeting privatisation of refineries, rail sector, the Transmission Company of Nigeria TCN, and breaking monopoly of all other infrastructure operations, was self-serving and must be resisted by well meaning Nigerians.
The statement read in part: “It is with a deep sense of patriotism that we inform Nigerians about the present motive of the PDP presidential candidate, who seems to want to finish what is left of our common patrimony as a nation.
“Alhaji Atiku Abubakar was chairman of the National Council on Privatization, NCP, a government committee entrusted with the responsibility of managing the privatization programme initiated by the Olusegun Obasanjo administration to handle the disposal of public enterprises.
“Some persons have been alleged of literally buying almost every enterprise on offer through their cronies and fronts. Of the over 60 enterprises privatised when he became NCP chairman in 1999, how many of them are functioning optimally?
“From the Osogbo Steel rolling mill, which has become a glorified warehouse to the abysmal performances of the privatised Generation Companies (GenCos) and Distribution Companies, DisCos, over eight years after privatization.
“From 17 of the 18 companies sold in the power sector, none is yet to break even, while the Federal Government has pumped in about N2 trillion as subvention to these privately owned companies.
