The House of Representatives has threatened to scrap the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) and the National Electricity Management Agency (NEMSA) for not living up to expectations of their mandates.
The House ad-hoc committee investigating overlapping functions of government agencies gave this indication at its resumed hearing in Abuja.
According to the committee, while NDE is failing in its mandate of providing employment to teeming unemployed Nigerians, NEMSA is responsible for the weak metering system by electricity distribution companies in the power sector.
The House panel also demanded a five-year performance assessment report from the NDE for it to justify its existence in line with the mandate of the probe panel.
Victor Mela, chairman of the committee while ruling on resolutions gave the ruling at an investigative said Femi Gbajabimila, speaker of the House had inaugurated the panel to investigate the overlapping mandate of some government agencies, adding that there is need to merge some of the agencies.
Aliyu Tukur, the managing director of NEMSA said the agency was established in 2015 by the federal government to ensure that there is a reliable electricity supply in the nation’s power industry.
He also said that the agency is mandated by laws to ensure that materials used in the industry are of confirmed technical specifications adding that their agency is in charge of quality metering.
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However, some committee members, Adedeji Olajide and Zacharia Yanpan expressed displeasure over their overall performance in the electricity industry.
They argued that the agency has an overlapping mandate with the Standard Organisation of Nigeria SON and lamented that the government is facing huge challenges in the funding of them
Olajide said: “the agency is sucking the blood of Nigerian citizens and should be merged with other agencies performing similar functions.”
On his part, Abubakar Nuhu, the director general of NDE said the agency is mandated by law to provide employment to unemployed Nigerians and vulnerable persons residing in Nigeria.
He said: “the agency has presence in all the states of the federation and local council areas and had been providing employment and skills for unemployed Nigerians in line with the mandate”
But the committee chairman, Mela and another member, Simon Karu said there is massive unemployment and the agency had not really lived up to the responsibility.
Karu immediately moved a motion that the agency should provide a five years performance assessment report on employment generation or it should be recommended for merger by the panel.
The lawmaker also threatens zero allocation to the National Power Training Institute in the 2023 Budget for its failure to address issues of power failure.
The Chairman Hon. Mela and the committee members adopted the motion and gave the NDE one week to submit the report.
