You Have No Right To Transact Business With Delta Steel Company, BPE Warns AMCON

The Bureau of Public Enterprises has warned the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria to desist from carrying any transactions with Delta Steel Company’s Townships 1,2,3,4, its air strips or any other property.

The Bureau said this in reaction to an advertorial published by AMCON on Monday that it acquired the ownership of the entire assets of Delta Steel Company Ltd excluding any liabilities and has effectively put Premium Steel and Mines Limited in the management, control and exclusive possession of the entire assets.

AMCON had in the advertorial said that the assets which it acquired and put PSML in control, management and in exclusive possession of, include the entire plants and machineries in the Steel Plant, lands and landed properties in the Steel Plant, and slag dump site, the industrial area on both sides of the DSC Express Road just before the steel plant.

Others are the Captive power plant site opposite the steel plant all located in Ovwian /Aladja, Ujevwu Borehole site & water pipeline right of way, offices and facilities like vocational center, shopping plaza etc at Steel Township-1 (excluding the residential houses), sites earmarked for developments in steel township1, EGC Yard and Environ, Steel Township 2, Steel Township 3, (including works yard) Steel Township 4, Township extension sites, among others.

The Corporation had also claimed that all supposed land acquisitions or any other transaction in the land in the above mentioned areas carried out by or with the Bureau of Public Enterprise, Mr. Dan Odiete (trading under the name and style of Dan Odiete & Co), Mr. Richardson Osifo, or any other supposed vendor and trespassers to the land is null, void and of no effect whatsoever.

But reacting to the development, the BPE said on Monday in a statement that as the secretariat of the National Council on Privatisation, the claim by AMCON “is laced with half-truths, deliberate falsehood and completely misleading.”

The BPE said that the National Council on Privatisation of which it is the Secretariat, in 2005 approved the sale of only the Core Assets in the industrial area of Delta Steel Company which comprise of the Steel Plant along with the machineries to Global Infrastructure Nigeria Limited.

It said the sale was effected in accordance with NCP approved guidelines through a Share Purchase Agreement , dated February 8, 2005 between Federal Government represented by the Bureau of Public Enterprises and the Core Investor; Global Infrastructure Nigeria Limited.

By the provisions of the SPA, the Bureau said all the non-core assets comprising Township 1, 2, 3, 4, and the Airstrip were never part of the assets that were sold to GINL and are consequently assets belonging to the Federal Government and under the management and control of the BPE.

It said, “Township 1 of the Housing Estate was to be sold and the monies realized from the sale were to be applied in ‘the settlement of Pension liabilities of the former staff of Delta Steel Company Limited.

“The NCP/BPE appointed the firm of Dan Odiete & Company as its facility managers to exclusively undertake the management and sale of Townships 1,2,3,4 Housing Estates and the Air strip.

“Accordingly, no other party, including AMCON has any legal right or authority whatsoever to deal or transact any business with respect to Delta Steel Company’s Townships 1,2,3,4, the air strips or any other property therein.”