Oyo State Government has disclosed that plans are underway to concess, privatise or sell-off some moribund state-owned assets.
It stated that this action on these state-owned moribund companies and other wasting assets would help to relieve government of excessive liabilities and unnecessary expenditure.
Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, Mr. Toye Arulogun who disclosed this in a statement made available to journalists on Sunday revealed that the moribund and wasting assets are being reviewed by a committee that will make recommendations for such assets under three main categories after a thorough determination of their current viability and prospects of future economic benefits.
The three categories which the Moribund and Wasting Assets Committee is expected to recommend such companies are for Concession, Public Private Partnership (PPP) Arrangement and Outright sale.
Arulogun explained that this step is in line with the spirit of the government’s 2017 Budget of Self-Reliance, noting that some of these assets still cost government huge expenditure despite their moribund or wasting state.
“The theme of the 2017 appropriation is “Budget of Self-Reliance. The government wants its assets to yield revenue rather than being waste pipes. We therefore need to stop the hemorrhage. Under any of the three main categories, government will earn revenue and the fortunes of the assets will turn around with strong multiplier effects on the Oyo State economy.
“The Oyo State Government’s conviction is that instead of having these moribund assets lie idle across the state, we want to revamp those that can be revamped, concession some, put some on the PPP platform and sell others outrightly.
“However, the government will not rush into taken decisions on these moribund assets. The input of relevant stakeholders, shareholders and the general public will be needed and the committee is consulting widely and still open to more contributions,” he stressed.
Arulogun said that the committee has been mandated to follow the principles of due diligence in discharging its responsibilities, explaining that the moribund assets will be subjected to proper inventory, appraisal and valuation before actions are taken on them.
Some of the moribund companies and wasting assets being reviewed are Conpole Limited, Cultural Centre, Nigeria Paper Mill Ibadan, Trans Motel Jericho, Trans Motel Iseyin, Ado Awaye Lake, Bowers Tower, Cashew Ind. Limited, Fasola farms amongst others.
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