Communications Minister reverses position on SAT-3

Communications Minister, Cornelius Adebayo has reversed his position on the severance of SAT-3 from NITEL to form a seperate company.
Reports by the News Agency of Nigeria indicate that the minister new position is that the Presidency would decide the fate of SAT-3 under NITEL's privatisation.
Speaking through his Media Assistant, Adebayo said that the issue of SAT-3 had been a burning one even before he came into the Communications ministry, stressing that as the country prepares the National carrier for privatisation only the BPE with due approval from the presidency can determine whether NITEL should be sold with SAT-3 or should be excised from the company before it is sold in December.
But last Saturday, Adebayo sang a different tune at the launch of new products by Nigerian computer maker, Omatek.
Adebayo had told reporters that the government had taken the decision to sever SAT-3 from NITEL as it concludes the process for its privatisation. Asked whether that would not affect negatively the bid to sell NITEL this year, Adebayo disagreed, saying that without SAT-3 the government would be able to sell NITEL easily.
He said that it was in the interest of Nigerians that the government took the decision. Adebayo said that the fear of government is that it believes anybody who buys NITEL would determine how much to sell the facility, which would not be in the overall interest of the country.
Continuing, he said:“The rational is that SAT-3 is a very major national asset; and NITEL is being privatized and can be bought by anybody from anywhere because it is an open market.“And SAT-3 is a crucial tool for ICT delivery.“We believe it should be held in the hands which can guarantee competitive cost”.
“Our decision is in cognizance of the need to make the facility available. It is in the protection of the interest of Nigeria that we are doing this”, he further asserted