Power Tussle: Finance Minister Shuns ‘Sack’ Order, Inaugurates Embattled NBET Chief Executive
BY COBHAM NSA, ABUJA – The perceived jostling for relevance and power play within the current administration reared its ugly head again on Monday, June 22 as the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, inaugurated the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Company (NBET)’s board with the supposedly fired Dr Marilyn Amobi still holding sway as the de facto Managing Director and Chief Executive officer of the agency.
In what many critics of President Muhammadu Bihari insist is the usual citing incidents in the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) among others, Mrs Ahmed’s action seemed to stretch their imagination as it clearly countermanded her Ministry of Power counterpart, Mr Saleh Mamman, who recently announced President’s approval of Dr Nnaemeka Eweluka to replace Amobi, at the company.
Justifying her inauguration of the re-constituted board, the Finance Minister said existing and emerging challenges of the nation’s power sector, especially in relations to implementing and achieving NBET’s mandate, demand urgency in repositioning the crisis-ridden agency for effective service delivery.
Mrs Ahmed said the contractual obligations and guarantees that NBET issues and manages are hugely strategic in moving the sector forward and ensuring the required benefits are delivered to Nigerians.
According to her, “We have all come to better understand the role of NBET as the manager and administrator of the electricity pool in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI), and how it buys Electricity from the Generating Companies (GenCos), including Independent Power Producers (IPP’s) under Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) and resells it to the distribution companies (DisCos) via vesting contracts.
“The role of NBET in the stabilisation of the power sector cannot be overemphasised as it plays a key role in the generation of market confidence through well-negotiated and well aligned contracts with fair risk allocation that protects market participants from credit and systemic risks. NBET stands as a de-risking agent in the power industry as it acts as a credit worthy off-taker of power procured from Gencos in the absence of bi-lateral contracts between Gencos and Discos,”
She further explained that; “The reconstitution of the board, therefore, took consideration of the current stage of evolution of the restructured electricity sector, the complexities the sector currently faces, multi-disciplinary skills of prospective Board members especially in finance and investment, electricity generation, system operations of deregulated electricity markets, administrative law, as well as economic regulation of network utilities, amongst other factors.”
Urging the Board members to bring their skills and experiences to bear in the assignment, Mrs Ahmed said; “electricity deregulation is still evolving in Nigeria, and the country is basically learning as the privatized market evolves. However, we do not have all the time, as the longer it takes, the more costly it is financially for Nigerians and the country at large.”
On the NBET’s Board, which has the Finance Minister as its chairman, the members include: former Director-General of Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Suleyman Ndanusa, as Non-Executive Director (Independent); former President, Nigeria Society of Engineers (NSE), Mustapha Balarabe Shehu, as Non-Executive Director (Independent); and Mr Adeyeye Adepegba as Non-Executive Director (Independent).
Others are: a non-executive director from Ministry of Power, to be represented by staff, not below the level of a director; Mr Alexander Ayoola Okoh, as non-executive director from Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) (80% Shareholder in NBET); Ms Patience Oniha, Director General, Debt Management Office (DMO), as non-executive director; and Mr Ben Akabueze, Director General, Budget Office of the Federation, as Non-Executive Director.
