Asset sale proposal a grand conspiracy, says group

Catalysts for Global Peace Initiative (CPJ), a peace-building organisation, has described the proposal to sell some of the country’s assets as grand conspiracy by some “connected people in government”.

Adebiyi Adekoya, CPJ’s programmes director, said this in a statement he issued on Wednesday.

The group said having observed the conversations over the issued, it decided to pitch its tent with those opposed to the idea.

“Those behind the campaign believe the sale of important national assets is the quickest way to raise foreign exchange, shore up the value of the naira, and fund the 2016 budget with a view to getting Nigeria out of recession,” the statement read.

“We join patriotic Nigerians in strongly opposing any move to walk this path. We state our opposition to assets sale on the following grounds:

“The proposal  appears  to  be  a grand  conspiracy  by  some connected people in the federal cabinet, the parliament and the private sector to short-change the country. It is curious that billionaire businessman Aliko Dangote first suggested the sale of Nigeria’s equities in the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Limited and African Finance Corporation (AFC).

“We found it even more curious that barely a week after Dangote’s suggestion, Senate President Bukola Saraki, CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele, Kano Emir Muhammadu Sanusi II, and state governors after a meeting of the National Economic Council (NEC) separately but publicly supported the call for assets sale. The campaign appears too well- coordinated to be a coincidence; it is too smooth to be for common good.”

CPJ said in the past, cronies of government officials benefited from assets sale, wondering if this particular one would not end like others.

“We remember that previous sale of national assets by previous administrations in the past, to a large extent, did not yield the desired results,” it said.

“Indeed those who bought those assets, mostly party loyalists and their business cronies, resorted to asset stripping. There is nothing to show the renewed campaign to sell national assets would  end up with a different result.

“We fear that any resort to assets sale could worsen the militancy problem in the Niger Delta, further whittle down our oil revenue, and worsen the decline of the economy.

“We fail to see the wisdom in this step and are inclined to liken this to the ill- advised spending of national savings in the recent past. We agree with the informed opinion of knowledgeable professionals, particularly former CBN Governor Charles Soludo, that the idea is derived from a false foundation, akin to chasing pennies while losing pounds.”