PRIVATIZATION AND COMMERCIALIZATION OF ENTERPRISES IN NIGERIA: A LEGAL APPRAISAL

Abstract

Government of ownership and participation in the economy can in some cases be divested to the private sector. This is usually done with the aim of embracing free enterprise and ultimately, increased market forces. It is focused at downplaying the influence wielded by government in the affected sectors of the economy in order to enhance private sector ownership, participation and control. Over time, it has been observed that the productivity of most public enterprises is adversely affected by poor management, ineffectiveness in resource utilization, limited growth, improper decision making and continuous misuse of government resources. Over time, the overall performance of government enterprises has epitomized inefficiency, characterized by a display of ineptitude in services delivery. It is unfortunate that despite all the effort by government in terms of resource allocation, the productivity of these enterprises keeps waning. To salvage this dire situation, the government has transferred the ownership of some of the government owned enterprises to the private sector while others were converted to profit making enterprises through the process of commercialization. The study traced the genesis of the privatization and commercialization process as well as the legal and institutional framework that gave legitimacy to the process, more particularly in the electricity and communication sectors. It was found that in spite of the provision of the various laws which has resulted in improved, more measures still need to be put in place in terms of monitoring and supervision of these enterprises by the relevant government agencies. The enactment of the Electricity Act 2023 is a welcome development and it is believed that proper implementation of this Act will bring a complete overhaul in the electricity sector and improve the overall consumer experience in this sector.