AMCON approves Abia’s offer to buy back Star Paper Mill
From Boniface Okoro, Umuahia
Efforts by Abia State government to acquire the moribund Star Paper Mill company has paid off as Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), has approved government’s offer buy back the company.
Governor Alex Otti disclosed this while addressing the first cohort of the Abia Leadership Academy graduation ceremony in Umuahia on Wednesday.
Governor Otti told the gathering that government would buy back the company and sell it to the private sector.
“I was very pleased to hear about your excursion to Star Paper Mill, Owerrinta. I am sure you learnt a few lessons. I have good news.
“On the 7th of this month, the Board of AMCON, that is, the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria, who is now the owner of the defunct paper mill sat and approved our offer to acquire Star Paper Mill for Abia State.
“So, before the end of this month, we shall pay AMCON what Star Paper Mill owes them and then take back the company and put it back. We are doing that because we knew it used to be the largest employer of labour at some point in this state and our intention is not to own it.
“By the time we acquire it, retrofit it, get it back to work, we will still sell it to the private sector,” the Governor said.
Recall that the Governor had in June this year, during the grand civic reception organised in his honour by Abiriba Communal Improvement Union (ACIU), promised that before the end of this year, the state will acquire Star Paper Mill.
He used the opportunity of that occasion to reveal that the state government has made an offered to AMCON to buy back Star Paper Mill with a view to reviving the company.
He recalled that when the once bubbling company closed down, it was bought over by AMCON.
“I was born and I grew up here (Aba). I knew how important Star Paper Mill was, not just to Aba, not just to Abia State, not just to the East of the Niger, but to Nigeria.
“As we speak, we know that Star Paper Mill has been taken over by AMCON. Let me announce that the State Government entered into a discussion with AMCON and as we speak, we have made an offer to AMCON to buy back Star Paper Mill.
“So, one thing you can take to the bank is that under our watch, Star Paper Mill will be back,” Gov. Otti assured during that event.
Also, when he received a European delegation earlier this year led by the organisation’s Head of Corporations, which came on assessment tour of Geometric Power Limited in Aba, among other things, Governor Otti regretted that the once popular Star Paper Mill was no longer producing due to lack of power but disclosed that soon, the company will bounce back as he has been engaging to achieve its revitalization. He said one of the things that put the firm out of existence was power supply.
“In the last six months, we have been engaging to see how we can bring it (Star Paper Mill) back to production. I have had to visit AMCON and I think we are at the point where evaluation is being done.
“So, hopefully, before the end of the year, we will be able to have a landing because growing up around here, Star Paper Mill was a behemoth, employing so many people and it operated on a 24-hour basis and one of the most important factors, if I remember correctly, was power.
“It was actually the inconsistency of power that made the Italian machines that were installed then for over $10 million by Union Bank that made it fail,” the Governor said.
