Nigeria: Postal Commission Bill to Pass Soon
The Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) disclosed Tuesday that it was reviewing the draft postal sector bill that would usher in the Postal Commission, in collaboration with the stakeholders in the Communications sector.
The Bureau which said the bill when passed and enacted by the National Assembly would ensure the establishment of the Postal Commission, stated that at the end of the review process, the final bill along with the sector policy will be forwarded to the Ministry of Communications for onward submission to the Federal Executive Council for consideration.
Making this known in Abuja while reacting to a publication in one of the national dailies titled: “Stakeholders accuse BPE of stalling Postal Commission”, BPE’s Head of Public Communications, Mr. Chigbo Anichebe stated that, towards implementing the postal sector reform, “the Federal Government through an international competitive bid process, engaged the NethPost Consortium early this year to provide advisory services for the postal sector reform and restructuring of Nigeria Postal Service (NIPOST). The consortium, he pointed out, comprises NethPost consultancy of Netherlands, KPMG, Pinheiro & Company, and B.M. Associates.”
He said the consortium was given the assignment to “formulate a postal sector policy for Nigeria; draft a new postal legislation for enactment by the National Assembly; establishment of an independent sector regulator; and restructure the incumbent public operator (NIPOST) into new business units.”
Accordingly, he noted, the BPE forwarded the draft policy to all stakeholders (NIPOST, Ministry of Communications, Association of Nigerian Couriers Operators, Nigerian International Air Couriers Association, etc) for their comments. The comments received were in turn forwarded to the consultants.
He said based on comments from stakeholders, the consultants revised the policy to incorporate relevant comments and observations. “The revised policy was submitted to the BPE on May 11, 2007. It was also sent to the Ministry of Communications, NIPOST and other stakeholders for further comments (if any). Before the BPE could get comments from all the stakeholders on the draft policy, the tenure of the last government lapsed,” he added.
