BPE Rejects Bill To Repeal ICRC Act

The Bureau of Public Enterprises has kicked against a bill at the Senate seeking to repeal the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission Act 2005 and enact the Public Private Partnership Regulatory Commission Act 2022.

This is as critical stakeholders in the Public Private Partnership sector, supported moves.

Critical stakeholders in support are the Acting Director General of ICRC, Michael Omani; Office of the Attorney General of the Federation; the Central Bank Governor, Godwin Emefiele; and the representative of the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria, Chukuma Katchchy, among others.

The Senate Committee on Works held a public hearing on the issue on Thursday where the BPE and the stakeholders gave their views.

The Acting Director General of ICRC, Michael Ohiani, told the panel that the proposed bill would put to rest, the inter agency rivalry between ICRC and BPE as far as regulation of PPP was concerned.

He said ICRC had significantly contributed to the overall economic development of the country.

He said between 2010 to 2020 under the regulatory guidance of the federal government approved over $19bn Private Public Partnership projects.

He said, “We have been given certificate of compliance in respect of 142 projects and Full Business Case certificate. The objective of the bill is well spelt out by putting to rest the seemingly jurisdictional conflict between ICRC and BPE.

“This is in consonance with the circular that was issued by the Federal Government which states that the ICRC shall act as the regulatory agency for PPP transactions, with power to inspect, supervise and monitor the projects and process to ensure compliance to relevant laws and regulations.

“PPP is a global phenomenon which must be well regulated in Nigeria as envisioned by the proposed legislation. The bill is no doubt, people-oriented,” he said.

However, the Director General of BPE, Alex Okoh, in his submission, kicked against the bill on alleged ground of duplication of functions between the proposed agency and BPE.

He said the role of an operator should be delineated from that of a regulator.

He said extant laws mandated BPE to superintend the PPP transactions.

He said, “There is no territory in the world where PPP are regulated by an agency as envisioned with the proposed Public Private Partnership Regulatory Commission.

“We appeal to the Senate not to come up with a legislation that will worsen inter agency collaboration through duplication of functions.”

The Chairman of the Committee, Senator Adamu Aliero (APC Kebbi Central ) and member, Senator Robert Ajayi Boroffice (APC Ondo North), assured the BPE DG that the proposed bill would not in any way affect on extant laws .