El-Rufai tasks BPE on state-owned enterprises

KADUNA State Governor, Mallam Nasir-El-Rufai, has identified the need for states-own enterprises (SOEs) in Nigeria to enshrine Corporate Governance as essential policy for their transformation and competitiveness.

The Governor, who was represented by the Executive Secretary of the Kaduna Investment Promotion Agency (KADIPA), Gambo Hamza, was speaking at a one-day Corporate Governance Training organised by the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) for its Alternate Directors on the boards of privatised Successor Electricity Companies, held in Kaduna recently noted that the concept and practice of Corporate Governance would not only increase productivity and competitiveness of the hitherto SOEs, it would also help to ensure that public funds invested in them are not mismanaged but are spent efficiently.

According to him, by creating more transparent and economically viable SOEs to be privatised or that have been privatised, Corporate Governance would ensure actual service delivery to the public which would guarantee the public or consumers value for their money.

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The Governor said the convergence of the global economy towards market based systems has elevated the concept of Corporate Governance to a new height and this has brought pressure to bear on the modern day corporations around the world to comply with international best practices and standards.

“It is becoming increasingly recognised that companies should be managed efficiently following prudential guidelines to protect the interests of stake holders rather than promoting insider abuse. Nigerian companies are not exempted from this Global trend.”

The Kaduna Governor maintained that the broader view of corporate governance, as a set of mechanisms which deals with institutional reforms beyond just company-level changes, suggests that it is one of the integral components of successful development strategies. He said Corporate Governance is fundamentally central to building competitive economies, reducing corruption, promoting property rights, and creating jobs and wealth all of which are components of successful poverty alleviation efforts.