The announcement by Governor Darius Ishaku’s administration to sell Mambilla Beverages, makers of the popular black and green Highland Tea, on Mambilla Plateau in Sardauna Local Council of Taraba State, has drawn the ire of citizens.

Taraba Investment and Properties Limited recently invited bids for the privatisation of the company, which did not go down well with the people.

Describing such act as “a mad rush to sell a company it does not hold shares in,” the leadership of Kamkam Progressive Forum (KPF) urged the government to give peace a chance by discarding the plan of selling the company.

KPF listed the names of the actual owners of the company, which the state government is laying claims.

It said: “Ownership of the company at incorporation has not changed. These individuals have not transferred their interest in the bank to the Taraba State Government or to any other person.”

In a statement made available to newsmen in Jalingo, yesterday, KPF urged the state government to withdraw the advert to sell the company, which it described as shameless, and to institute investigation regarding the ownership of the company, or publish the details of ownership immediately.

Led by Abdulrazaq Manuhi and Nuhu Tiki, the group stressed the need for the House of Assembly to be on the part of the citizens, which would go a long way in salvaging the situation.

According to them, the House can start by “unravelling the circumstances surrounding the ownership and purported sale of Nigerian Beverages Production Company Limited factory in the past, incorporation of Mambilla Beverages (Nigeria) Limited, the plight of the workers who served since the NBPC days, and the current mad rush by the governor to convert the company.”

Citing the Investment and Securities Act 2007, Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA), the Taraba government, they said, has no shares in Mambila Beverages and cannot sell shares belonging to individuals, who own the company.

They said: “We are inclined to believe that his (Ishaku) ambition is indeed to snatch the company through the backdoor; hence, his rush to sell it against the massive outcry in the media for some time now.”

When reached for comment, the Managing Director of Taraba Investment, Ezekiel Illiya, said plans to organise a townhall, where Tarabans would be allowed to air their views on the sale of the company, are underway.

He debunked claims that the state government has no share in the company, stating that the company, which was formally liquidated, was bought over by the state government. (The Guardian: Text, excluding headline)

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