Director-General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), Mr. Alex A.
\nOkoh has assured workers of the Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) that
\nthe on-going reform of the postal service will not attract job losses or
\nretrenchment but will rather create more jobs in the subsidiaries that
\nwould emerge after the reform.<\/p>\n
Receiving the leadership of the National Union of Postal and
\nTelecommunications Employees (NUPTE), led by its President, Rev. (Dr)
\nNehemiah G. Buba which paid him a courtesy visit on Wednesday, August
\n26, 2020, the Director-General said that NIPOST after the reform would
\nstill remain 100 percent entity of the Federal Government as the reform
\nonly aims at commercializing its services and making it robust to
\ndeliver more efficient postal service.<\/p>\n
He informed the labour leaders that already three commercial
\nventures-NIPOST Properties & Development Company; NIPOST Transport &
\nLogistics Company and NIPOST Microfinance bank Limited have been carved
\nout of\u00a0 NIPOST\u00a0 which the\u00a0 Bureau had completed the registration of
\nNIPOST Properties & Development Company and NIPOST Transport & Logistics
\nCompany at the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) while the process for
\nregistration at CAC and also that of obtaining regulatory approvals from
\nthe Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for NIPOST Microfinance bank had also
\ncommenced.<\/p>\n
The Director-General reiterated that the benefits of the reform of the
\nsector include, the Provision of efficient postal services and
\nutilisation of vast assets of NIPOST across the country; reduction in
\nfunding from the treasury in terms of subventions to NIPOST and the
\noperation and growth of ancillary services and business to enhance the
\noverall efficiency of NIPOST to create more jobs.<\/p>\n
He said in order to sensitize all the relevant stakeholders on the need
\nfor the reform, the Bureau in conjunction with the Federal Ministry of
\nCommunication & Digital Economy and NIPOST held zonal workshops in five
\nof the six geo-political zones of the country, except the North-Central
\nZone which was to be held in Abuja but for the outbreak the worldwide
\nCoronavirus (Covid-19) Pandemic.<\/p>\n
The Director-General announced that the reform of the postal sector will
\nlead to the emergence of the Nigerian Postal Commission (NPC) as a
\nregulator of the sector to ensure efficiency, service delivery, and
\ncheck abuses. He said during a tour of some of the countries that have
\neffectively reformed their postal services and are reaping good
\ndividends, it was discovered that in China, for instance, its Postal
\nBank has over 80 million customers because of its rural penetration and
\ngiven that most rural communities in Nigeria do not have access to
\nbanking facilities, the emergence of NIPOST Microfinance Bank would be
\nbeneficial to the communities.<\/p>\n
On the request by the Union Leaders for the Bureau to intervene in the
\nimpasse between NIPOST and the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) on
\nwhich of the organisations is statutorily required to collect stamp
\nduties in the country, Okoh assured them that the Bureau was already
\ninterfacing in the matter and that soon, an amicable solution would be
\nreached.<\/p>\n
The President of the National Union of Postal and Telecommunications
\nEmployees (NUPTE), Rev. (Dr) Nehemiah G. Buba commended the Federal
\nGovernment for initiating the reform which is now a reality. He
\nexpressed delight over the visit as some of the issues pertaining to the
\nreform which were hitherto not known to the workers have been laid bare
\nby the Bureau.<\/p>\n
He promised to go back and educate the NIPOST workers on the imperative
\nof the reform of the sector and appealed to the Bureau to always update
\nthe union members on the progress of the reform.<\/p>\n
It would be recalled that the National Council on Privatisation (NCP) at
\nits meeting held on 31st October 2017, approved the reform of the Postal
\nSector and the restructuring and modernisation of the Nigeria Postal
\nServices (NIPOST).<\/p>\n
Further, Council also approved; the constitution of a Steering Committee
\nto be chaired by the Honourable Minister of Communications & Digital
\nEconomy, to drive the reform process and review the Postal Sector
\nPolicy; the constitution of a Project Delivery Team (PDT) to serve as
\nthe secretariat of the Steering Committee and to develop quick-fix
\nreform strategies to make NIPOST commercially viable, and the
\nappointment of KPMG as Transaction Adviser.<\/p>\n
Director-General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), Mr. Alex A. Okoh has assured workers of the Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) that the on-going reform of the postal service will…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":75519,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-75518","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n