Governor Abdullahi Sule has revealed how outstanding liabilities amounting to N223.6m is stalling the full liquidation of the defunct Nasarawa Investment and Property Development Company (NIPDC).
Governor Sule disclosed this after being presented with a report by a committee set up to unravel the circumstances surrounding the dissolution of the company at the Government House on Thursday.
According to the Governor, aside various claims being owed to especially disengaged staff of the NIPDC in terms of gratuity and pension, the inability to fully liquidate the company has frozen some vital assets thereby denying government the use of such assets for development purposes.
He said setting up the investigative committee became necessary in order for the state to settle all the outstanding liabilities and to be able to have access to the assets for development purposes.
“The whole idea of setting up this committee is that there have been a lot of cries from the staff of the company about the none compensation of their gratuity, pension, and the rest of that. They were not properly disengaged. We had so many issues, and then there were fears of people going to court that would have actually caused some more problems for the state. That is the essence of setting up the committee,” he said.
Based on the findings of the committee, the Governor disclosed that a total of N223.6m liabilities remain to be settled for the liquidation of the NIPDC to be completed.
“As far as the committee is concerned, based on the executive summary, there is gratuity that is due to the staff of N58.4m. There is an unremitted pension of N98.7m. The MD’s entitlements that were not paid to him, N28.1m. There are contractors of the international market that the state was owing them N12.2m. There are references to the depositors of the Keffi Sight and Services of N4.5m.
“There is a negotiated balance of liquidation fee because a one-time Commissioner of Finance in the state served as the liquidator of the company. Therefore, his fees of N27.8m were not paid,” he stated.
He added that it is in the interest of Nasarawa State to bring the matter to a conclusion.
“The truth of the matter is that some of these assets that are tied up as a result of these obligations are worth more than the total amount that we are owing. It is in the interest of the state so that we settle these obligations so that we free these assets and then go into some kind of relationship with various investment partners. That is the whole essence of this work done by this committee;” he added.
The Governor disclosed that one of such assets is the Keffi Sight and Services which his administration had sought to develop through a PPP arrangement but could not because of the inability to fully liquidate the NIPDC.
“The Keffi Sight and Services is one of the sights that we have in mind, where we are trying to engage another investor in a PPP arrangement but we can not because there is an obligation to settle, first to the various depositors worth N4.5m,” he said.
He resolved to transmit the report to the state executive council for further deliberation and action on the matter.
He however assured that his administration will promptly work on the report towards implementing it recommendations.
Governor Sule thanked the members of the committee for doing a wonderful job.
Presenting the report earlier, Chairman of the Committee to Settle Gratuity of the Former Employees of the Defunct Nasarawa State Investment and Property Development Company (NIPDC), Mohammed Iliyasu Ide mni, recalled that the committee was set up by the state government to conclude the liquidation process of the defunct NIPDC which started in 2016.
Ide noted that in view of the transition between the immediate past administration of Senator Umaru Tanko Al-makura and the present Governor Sule administration, there was need for due diligence and close evaluation of the assets and liabilities of the defunct company, particularly the unpaid entitlements of the management and partial offset of outstanding compensation of staff.
He said that the committee whose membership cuts across the office of the SSG, HoS, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Finance, and Bureau for Pension, painstakingly considered the issues at stake and made necessary recommendations.
Ide thanked the Governor for finding them worthy to serve in such an important committee.
In an introductory remarks, Secretary to the Government of Nasarawa State, Barrister Mohammed Ubandoma Aliyu, recalled that the committee was constituted sometime in October 2023.
“Your Excellency may recall that when you assumed office in May, 2019, you made the lingering issue of the Nasarawa State Investment and Property Development Company. The company that you were privileged to chair courtesy the late governor Alhaji Ali Akwe Doma. Concerned by the situation, and in view of the policy direction of your administration to see to the welfare of your own people, you have established an agency that has virtually taken up the responsibility of the defunct NIPDC, with the aim of seeing to the continuity of your drive to indistrialize Nasarawa State.
“Your Excellency may also wish to note that since after the dissolution of the company, the staff have continued to express concern about the non-payment of their entitlements. It is for that reason, after reviewing all their demands, you directed for the constitution of a committee that would look into the problem with a view to advising how best to go about addressing the problem,” he stated.
