Prince Adewole Adebayo, the 2023 presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), has condemned successive Nigerian governments since 1999 for selling critical government enterprises under the guise of privatisation, describing the practice as fundamentally flawed.
Adebayo argued that the sale of public assets, particularly during the Olusegun Obasanjo administration (1999–2007), contributed significantly to Nigeria’s persistent infrastructure challenges. He specifically cited the privatisation of the National Electric Power Authority (NEPA), Nigeria Telecommunications Limited (NITEL), the National Insurance Corporation of Nigeria (NICON), and Nigerian Hotels Limited.
“What the government should have done was to privatise the industry or sector, not the enterprise itself,” he said. According to Adebayo, the policy led to widespread unemployment, weakened savings, and the erosion of public training facilities. He noted that institutions like NEPA had historically served as training grounds for engineers, producing many of Nigeria’s leading professionals.
He further criticised the state of Nigeria’s public works and infrastructure, claiming that private contractors now dominate projects that public agencies could have managed. “Even simple works that they could do with the public works department, they will not. I have more equipment inside my compound than the entire ministry of works in Akure, Ondo State,” he said.
Adebayo also questioned the effectiveness of privatised enterprises in the power and telecommunications sectors. He highlighted that many telecom operators still rely on NITEL’s infrastructure, and private electricity operators expect consumers to provide their own transformers, undermining efficiency.
He emphasised that the correct approach would have been to liberalise entire sectors rather than sell off specific enterprises. “Privatisation of government enterprises is wrong. What you need is to open the sector; that’s all,” he asserted.
Promising an alternative approach, Adebayo said the SDP plans to reconstitute public enterprises and train a new generation of Nigerians to operate them, aiming to grow industries from within the country.
