- Proceeds from privatised assets to finance 2025 budget
- Non-strategic, underutilised FG’s assets in Lagos, Abuja, others for sale
The Federal Government has projected total earnings of N312.3bn from the sale of public assets in 2025. This disclosure is part of the government’s efforts to bridge the nation’s revenue deficit and fund critical infrastructural and social projects.
The N312.33bn represents an increase of about N14bn when compared to the N298.48bn, which was raised from privatization in the 2024 fiscal period.
According to sources within the Ministry of Finance, the sale will involve assets considered non-strategic, underutilized, or redundant.
According to THE POINT findings, some of the assets slated for privatization include government-owned properties in Abuja, Lagos, and other states.
Additionally, it was gathered by THE POINT that stakes in several state-run enterprises across various sectors are expected to be sold.
A top government official with knowledge of the transaction told our correspondent that the Federal Government would be reducing its fiscal burden by offloading assets that no longer serve their intended purposes.
These funds, it was learnt, will be reinvested in areas that promote economic growth, such as healthcare, education, and infrastructure development.
President Bola Tinubu had a few months ago reconstituted the National Council on Privatization with the all-important task of piloting Nigeria’s economic sector reform, privatization, commercialization, and Public-Private Partnership programme for the next four years.
The Council has Vice President Kashim Shettima as Chairman and the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, as Vice Chairman.
The president named members of the newly inaugurated NCP to include the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN); Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Senator Abubakar Atiku Bagudu; Minister Industries, Trade, and Investment Jumoke Oduwole; Secretary to Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, and Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, Olayemi Cardoso.
The Council’s objectives, according to the president include “approving policies on privatization and commercialization, approving guidelines and criteria for the valuation of public enterprises and choice of strategic investors, approving the prices for shares or assets of the public enterprises to be offered for privatization, approving the legal and regulatory framework for the reform of public enterprises.”
Others are “reviewing, from time to time, the socio-economic effect of the privatization and commercialization program and deciding on appropriate remedies, appointing committees comprising persons from the private and public sectors with requisite technical competence to advise on the privatization and commercialization of specific public enterprises.”
But while the plan to raise over N312bn from privatization next year has been praised for potentially increasing revenue, concerns have been raised about the transparency of the sale process.
Critics have argued that past privatization efforts have often favoured politically connected individuals or failed to meet long-term development goals.
Nigeria’s economy has struggled with dwindling oil revenues, mounting public debt, and high unemployment rates in recent years.
With the country’s debt servicing obligations expected to exceed N8trn in 2025, the government is under pressure to diversify its revenue streams.
Analysts have pointed out that the sale of assets, while providing short-term relief, may not address the country’s structural fiscal challenges.
The Bureau of Public Enterprises had said that the Federal Government had generated over N1trn from the sale, commercialisation, and the concession of over 234 public assets in the past 32 years.
A breakdown of the 234 assets involved from the time of the defunct Technical Committee on Privatisation in 1989 to the creation of the BPE in 1999 showed that the agriculture sector accounted for 32, banking and finance (31), cement (15), energy construction and services (14), hotels and tourism (13) industry and manufacturing (9), oil and gas (13). Others are ports (31), power (24), mines, and steel (38), automobiles (8), paper and packaging (4), sugar (4) and telecom.
The National Assembly is set to deliberate on the specifics of the planned asset sales in January 2025.
