Senate has threatened to privatize the Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) if the agency continue operating at a loss.
The warning was issued by the Chairman of the Joint Committee on Finance, Senator Sani Musa, during the continuation of the 2024-2026 Medium-Term Expenditure Framework public hearing at the National Assembly complex in Abuja, on Tuesday, November 14.
According to the committee, NIPOST offices across the country and the abysmal revenue generation, particularly from stamp duties Lacks facilities.
They further urged the Post-Master General of the Federation, Omotola Odeyemi, to provide the names of all staff members of the organisation, allocation and salary to the committee for further investigation by the upper chamber
It also gave NIPOST two years to establish a plan on how to revamp the service and change the business model to achieve self-sustenance rather than operating at a loss, otherwise, it would enact legislation to ensure total privatisation.
Odeyemi incurred the wrath of the senators when she said her agency projected N18bn as personnel cost for the NIPOST 16, 000 workers across the country.
Senator Musa lamented that NIPOST, whose presence could not be felt anywhere in the country, would increase its personnel cost from N13bn in 2023 to N18bn for 2024.
The explanation of the Postmaster General that the increment was a result of the recent hike in personnel cost by the Federal Government to federal workers did not assuage the lawmakers.
Attempting to make a case for NIPOST, however, a member of the joint panel, Senator Ireti Kingibe, argued that every nation deserved their own vibrant postal agency.
She said, “NIPOST should not be scrapped but should be turned to a revenue-generating agency.
“The only thing is that the agency was stuck in the 19th century analogue operation instead of migrating to digital service for efficient services.
“There is nothing stopping NIPOST from digitalising their offices across the country to offer electronic services for Nigerians, deliver government services at all local government areas and even engage in financial services.”
But Kingibe had hardly ended her submission when Senator Osita Izunaso disagreed with her.
Izunaso argued that the NIPOST as currently structured, should not be encouraged if the country was interested in generating revenues to fund its annual budgets.
Ruling on the matter, the chairman of the joint panel asked the Chief Executive Officer of NIPOST to forward to the committee, details of her business plan to reposition the agency into a highly revenue-generating agency.
He said, “NIPOST should have been fully privatized before now because nobody is feeling their impact anywhere in the country.
“We are ready to recommend to the Senate in plenary, the full privatisation of the NIPOST except the Postmaster General convinces us otherwise.
“The CEO of NIPOST should forward to the secretariat of our committee details of her business model on how the agency would be generating adequate revenues for the country through creative ideas.
“Failure to do this would leave the Senate with no other option than to recommend the full privatisation of NIPOST.”
