By SALISU SANI-IDRIS

The National Council on Privatisation (NCP), on Wednesday revealed plans to merge the Bank of Agriculture and the Central Bank of Nigeria’s NIRSAL Microfinance Ltd.

The Council said it also planned to inject fresh capital to revitalise the institutions after the merger.

The decisions, which were among the recommendations of NCP’s Committee on BOA, was disclosed at the meeting of the Council held at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Vice President Kashim Shettima who chaired the meeting reiterated President Bola Tinubu’s commitment to repositioning and reforming BOA to drive the administration’s food security agenda.

“Let’s get very sound professionals with integrity to manage the bank.

“If we use it well, it’s going to be a tool for the transformation of our economy because agriculture is the key,” he said

Earlier, while presenting the committee’s report, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr Wale Edun, said the council’s decision was informed by the challenges identified and the need for urgent resolution of the issues confronting the bank.

Edun, who is the NCP Vice-Chairman, outlined the major recommendations, including “the immediate reconstitution of the Board of Directors of the Bank to enhance corporate governance.

He also highlighted the proposal to “cede National Agricultural Land Development Authority (NALDA) land titles to BOA so that it would reflect in its Balance Sheet.”

“This will increase the capital adequacy for the purpose of raising funds from institutional investors,” he said

The minister acknowledged the need for financial reinforcement of the bank as well as adequate capital injection by its shareholders as a crucial step forward.

On the energy sector, Edun said the NCP proposed the establishment of an independent system operator for the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN).

He said the move was to bring transparency and efficiency to the sector.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that following the proposal of NCP, the Vice President who is the chairman of the Council set up a committee to provide a roadmap and reach out to stakeholders

Shettima directed the committee to liaise with the Special Adviser to the President on Energy and the Federal Ministry of Power.

NAN reports that committee is chaired by Mr Oye Hassan-Odukale, Technical Committee Chairman of NCP.

On Strategy Paper for the Optimisation of Oil and Gas Assets, the council also formed a committee to look into issues concerning oil and gas infrastructure.

The committee chaired by the Minister for Budget and Economic Planning includes the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare and the NCP Secretariat.

Other members of the committee are, the Ministers of Power, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil) and the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas),

The committee was given three weeks to come up with its report on optimising the nation’s oil and gas assets. (NAN)

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