Privatised Firms Must Be Efficient – New BPE Boss

BY COBHAM NSA, ABUJA –   

The Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) will rejig its processes to ensure all privatized enterprises in the country are functional and provide quality services to the Nigerian populace.

Newly appointed Director-General of the Bureau, Mr. Alex Okoh said BPE is set to step up its post-privatization monitoring activities to hold owners of privatized enterprises accountable to the covenants signed with the Bureau so that Nigerians can derive maximum benefits from the programme.  

Okoh, who addressed the management team at the Bureau’s headquarters in Abuja, said the focus is to sustain a positive image for the Bureau, especially against the backdrop of negative public perception in some circles about BPE’s mandate execution.

According to him, the Bureau must reposition itself for effective service delivery in a regime where every staff is dedicate to duty, even as he lauded the former acting Director-General, Dr. Vincent Onome Akpotaire, for successfully piloting the Bureau’s affairs in the last 14 months.

In his remarks, Dr. Akpotaire, while handing over the baton, said the management and staff are confident that Okoh’s background as a seasoned administrator puts him on a good stead to give BPE a new lease of life.

Until his appointment as BPE’s Director-General on Thursday, April 13, 2017, Okoh was the Managing Partner of Ashford & McGuire Consulting Ltd. Currently a member of the Presidential Economic Advisory Council, he has 32 years working experience, with about 22 being in the banking industry where his responsibilities involved general management, leadership and organizational development.

A statement by BPE’s Head, Public Communications, Alex Erons Okoh said the new helmsman is a graduate of Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Program and has acquired international working exposure through programs with Citibank New York, Fidelity Bank London, Swiss Banking Corporation, Zurich and Grindlays Bank, Zimbabwe.

The statement said Okoh, who was the Managing Director/CEO, NNB International Bank Plc from 2001 to 2006, also worked with Nigeria International Bank Limited (Citibank) and United Bank for Africa Plc. He studied Sociology at the University of Benin and holds a Master’s degree in Banking & Finance from the University of Ibadan. Okoh is an alumnus of the Harvard Business School.