The power sector has been enmeshed in confusion over the removal of two key principal actors in the sector by Sale Mamman, minister of power.
The minister has however, been overruled by the Federal Government on these issues because of what some stakeholders described as lack of proper consultation before taking such decisions.
With the reversal of the actions of the minister of power, it means that he probably does not understand the limitation of his power and so has to be thought a lesson that he must consult with the power that be at the presidency before taking any action against appointees that the president has offered jobs.
First, the minister was ordered to reinstate Damilola Ogunbiyi, managing director of Rural Electrification Agency REA.
The minister had suspended Ogunbiyi because of what he described as infractions done by her while in office. What those infractions are, the public has not been told.
Before her suspension, Ogunbiyi, first female managing director of REA, had tendered her resignation to take up a job as the UN special representative for sustainable energy and CEO of Sustainable Energy for All (SEforAll).
The Federal Government in ordering her reinstatement also said that her letter of resignation has been accepted.
A few days after Damilola was asked to be reinstated, the second person the minister also kicked out of her office, Marilyn Amobi, managing director and chief executive officer of Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Company Limited (NBET), was similarly asked to be reinstated because of the argument by some people that he did not have the power to sack her
The argument that the agency, though one of the successor companies of NEPA/PHCN but with board members cutting across BPE, Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Power, played out in this case.
The back and forth arguments have been subjected to different rules of interpretation. This however, has serious implications for the power sector as it sends wrong signal to investors.
During his tenure as minister of Finance, Segun Aganga was said to have insisted that the only thing that can guaranty the continuous support of the Ministry of Finance to power sector reforms and activities of NBET in terms of collaterisation and securitisation of investments and provisions of Mitigation to Investment Risks and related Markets stability is for Ministry of Power to concede the board chairmanship of NBET to the Federal Ministry of Finance.
Before her appointment as MD/CEO NBET, Marilyn Amobi, was a Senior Special Adviser to the President (Office of the Vice President).
She is said to be in the good books of the Chief of Staff to the President, Abba Kyari and still enjoys a firm cordial relationship with him.
So, aside from the fact that the minister failed to have wider consultations with the members of board of directors of NBET, he also must have under rated the influence the woman is wielding in the corridors of power
Presently, the NBET boss was not only reinstated, the agency has also been moved from the ministry of power to the ministry of finance.
All these scenarios really get other stakeholders in the power sector worried about who actually is in charge of the power sector.
In December 2019, Sale Mamman, minister of power, asked Amobi to step down with immediate effect in order to “restore sanity” in the management of the agency.
The minister also directed the constitution of a 5-man investigative committee to look into the allegations against her.
Nnaemeka Ewelukwa, a general manager of the agency, immediately assumed office as the acting managing director of NBET.
Ewelukwa has been asked to step aside for Amobi to resume her former position.
Analysts have said that the actions of both the Federal Government and the minister in relation to sacking and reinstating could be counter-productive, as such actions may have a far-reaching effect on the Power Sector and the accompanying wrong signals. It may not also be a good omen for the Minister of Power as he may no longer be able to take some critical decisions because of fear of being asked to reverse them.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Business Leaders Forum has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to relive the Minister of Power, Sale Mamman, of his position, accusing him of incompetence, nepotism and gross disregard to due process.
The group, which had earlier warned that the Nigeria power sector is heading for a total collapse under the minister, said the nation’s power sector has worsened in the last five months.
The group, in a statement signed by its National Coordinator, Austin Iwe Igwe noted that it warned of the looming danger three weeks before the whole nation was thrown into darkness for more than 48 hours in December.
According to him, the Minister since assuming office has been fighting imaginary cabal in the sector but could not point to one thing it has achieved in the last six months.
He added that Mamman, with his conduct, believes he is not answerable to Nigerians, particularly the business community that are the worst hit by the epileptic state of the power sector.
Olusola Bello
