Atiku-Era Privatisation: Senate Findings and Contested Sales of Nigeria’s Public Assets

As chairman of the National Council on Privatisation from 1999 to 2007, Atiku Abubakar oversaw the council during a major transfer of public enterprises to private ownership. A 2011 Senate committee hearing raised concerns about the process, including the reported proceeds from 122 sales and the performance of many privatised companies. The figures and assessments cited in accounts of the hearing vary, so individual valuations should be treated with care. The post highlights ALSCON, Delta Steel, NITEL and the attempted sale of a stake in the Port Harcourt refinery. It also describes the impact on industrial capacity and jobs. Some details, including sale values and claims about job losses, remain disputed or depend on the source; the Supreme Court later ruled against the ALSCON sale to RUSAL. It also distinguishes the 2002 decision to unbundle NEPA under the Atiku-led council from the later sale of power-sector companies in 2013, which took place under a different administration. The broader question is whether privatisation delivered investment and improved services, or transferred public assets without adequate safeguards.

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