Minister of Communications, Mr. Adebayo Shittu has said that the federal government has stopped the plan to privatise the Nigerian Communications Satellite Limited (NigComSat) because it will short change Nigerians.
According to Mr. Shittu, it would be more strategic for the FG to take a loan to increase the fleet of satellites available to the company instead of privatizing NigComSat. This he believed will assure customers of how reliable the satellite operator is.
NigComSat had initially been marked down to be privatized towards the end of the Goddluck Jonathan administration, but the plan was rejected by workers who protested against it.
This is what the Minister had to say on the matter;
“The private sector itself has the freedom to put resources together and establish satellites if they feel they need them. This is one national treasure, which I don’t believe must be seeded to the private sector.
“We as Nigeria must have something we can collectively call our own; something that must remain our national pride. So, for anybody to want to sell this national pride is a mere attempt to short-change Nigeria and all Nigerians.
“So, as long as I am Minister of Communications, I will never be party to any such unholy sale, because it does not protect Nigeria’s best national interest.”
He also added that scarcity of funds had limited the development of the ICT sector, and that efforts were made to secure funding from international investors.
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lol… a NASS resolution is not legally binding on the Executive.
next time they are passing a law, the Senate should include it in the act.