Why Jonathan sacked BPE DG, Onagoruwa

President Goodluck Jonathan on Tuesday relieved Ms. Bolanle Onagoruwa of her appointment as the Director-General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises.

The decision was contained in a two-paragraph statement made available by the Senior Special Assistant to the Vice-President on Media, Mr. Umar Sani.

Though no reason was given for her sacking, our correspondents gathered that Onagoruwa might have lost her job following the controversies that surrounded the management contract for the Transmission Company of Nigeria awarded to a Canadian firm, Manitoba Hydro International.

The Presidency had earlier announced the cancellation of the contract because of alleged series of infractions in the award process on the part of the BPE under Onagoruwa’s watch.

The agency was said to have awarded the contract in violation of the provisions of the Public Procurement Act, 2007.

But Jonathan, during his last media chat, claimed that the contract was not cancelled.

The management contract was later reported to have received ratification from the Bureau of Public Procurement.

The statement announcing her sacking read, “The Director-General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises, Ms. Bolanle Onogoruwa, has been relieved of her appointment with immediate effect. She is to hand over to the most senior Director in the Bureau, Mr. Benjamin Ezra Dikki, who is to hold the position in an acting capacity.

“Mr. President extends his sincere appreciation to Ms. Bolanle Onogoruwa for her services to the nation and wishes her the best in her future endeavours.”

Onagoruwa has, however, been in the eye of the storm for a while now with the two chambers of the National Assembly separately calling for her sacking over the management of the privatisation process.

Apart from the Manitoba contract saga, some observers believed that the President might have bowed to pressure by the National Assembly.

The Senate had recently adopted the report of its ad hoc committee on privatisation and commercialisation, which called for Onagoruwa’s sacking for alleged gross incompetence in the management of the process and for alleged illegal and fraudulent sale of the five per cent of Federal Government’s residual shares in the Eleme Petrochemicals Company Limited.

The House of Representatives had also made a similar call on the President to sack Onagoruwa.

While reacting to the development on Tuesday, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Public Accounts, Senator Ahmed Lawan, commended the President for finally removing Onagoruwa.

Lawan was the Chairman of the ad hoc committee that probed privatisation of government enterprises since 1999 till date and recommended the sacking of the former BPE director-general.

The committee also recommended the criminal investigation of past directors-generals of BPE and appropriately sanction them.

Onagoruwa’s alleged sins, according to the committee, include her role in the attempt to fraudulently sell off Federal Government’s five per cent equity in the Eleme Petrochemicals.

 Lawan said, “In addition to what has happened (Onagoruwa’s sacking), the Federal Government should implement the resolutions of the Senate.

“When the Senate takes a resolution, it is in the interest of Nigerians and not hurt anyone.”

He further cited the recent Supreme Court judgment, which invalidated the sale of the Aluminium Smelter Company to Rusal, saying that it was a fraudulent deal between BPE and the Russian firm.

Lawan said the judgment also confirmed the recommendation of the Senate that the sale be revoked.

He added that Onagoruwa showed gross incompetence in the handling of the privatisation process and ought to have lost her job a long time ago.