THE Senate Committee on Marine Transportation has given conditions to be met before the privatisation of the nation's ports could be carried out. The Chairman of the committee Senator Martyns Yollowe who gave the conditions at a two day stakeholders forum put together by the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) in conjunction with the Ministry of Transport said that the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) most first be given free hand to operate fully as a commercial outfit.
Yellowe noted that until the authority fails to perform under full commercialisation, the option of privatisation should not be considered. He also stressed that the Port Act of 1997 establishing the NPA slated it for commercialisation and this government has not allowed the authority to operate.
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