Months after its first buyer,Seaforce Shipping Company declined further interests, the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) has also abandoned government-owned national carrier; the Nigerian Unity Line (NUL) in what appears like a dramatic twist in the quest to sell- off the shipping company.
Investigations by Shipping Position Weekly revealed that although BPE had refunded the $20Miliion that Seaforce paid in 2005 for the acquisition of the national carrier, it has been difficult to sell the Months after its first buyer,
Seaforce Shipping Company declined further interests, the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) has also abandoned government-owned national carrier; the Nigerian Unity Line (NUL) in what appears like a dramatic twist in the quest to sell- off the shipping company.
Investigations by Shipping Position Weekly revealed that although BPE had refunded the $20Miliion that Seaforce paid in 2005 for the acquisition of the national carrier, it has been difficult to sell the company to anyone. Seaforce is owned by industrialist, Mr. Femi Otedola.
Sources at the BPE confirmed last week that one of the reasons why it has been impossible to get a new buyer is because the national carrier is not worth anything; a fact that was affirmed by the bureau’s spokesperson, Mr. Chigbuo Anichebe.
He confirmed that BPE is yet to come up with a new strategy on what to do with the national carrier. “NUL has nothing, but its certificate of incorporation”, he pointed out.
He also confirmed that the major reason that made Otedola to buy the company in 2005 was the agreement that NUL would be allowed to lift crude oil. The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) reportedly refused to respect the agreement that was reached between Otedola and BPE.
The BPE spokes person added that the only thing that Otedola paid $20Million for was NUL’s certificate of incorporation.
As at the time of its sale, NUL only had about 500 empty containers, it was operating from a rented apartment in Apapa, Lagos. The only ship, MV Abuja which NUL had, was sold in 2002 under very controversial circumstances.
Anichebe explained further that even though there was an approval by former President Olusegun Obasanjo before he left office, it was difficult to get the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to implement the directive after Obasanjo left office.
Industry sources confirmed that even though Otedola’s company won the bid for NUL on December 1, 2005, he only paid in February, 2006, but failed to take advantage of the company as a national carrier until September, 2007, by which time, a new President had been sworn in.
Anichebe also told our correspondent that for now the BPE is at a crossroad regarding what to do with the national carrier and that what the agency worked on was the assurance that, being a government-owned national carrier, the company can attract high net worth bidders, but it is not working out that way. Falling short of saying that the BPE has given up on it, Anichebe confirmed that the case of NUL requires new strategies.
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