Change of guard: Chairman-designate resumes at NERC ahead confirmation

The nominated chairman for the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Engr. Abdullahi Garba Ramat, formally resumed office yesterday. However, his resumption flouted the directive of the Presidency that he will occupy the position after his confirmation by the Senate. Sources at the commission told Daily Trust that he arrived the commission with many supporters in […]

The nominated chairman for the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Engr. Abdullahi Garba Ramat, formally resumed office yesterday.

However, his resumption flouted the directive of the Presidency that he will occupy the position after his confirmation by the Senate.

Sources at the commission told Daily Trust that he arrived the commission with many supporters in company of military personnel and operatives of the Department of State Service (DSS).

The nominated commissioner of Consumers Affairs, Abubakar Yusuf, was also present during the brief handover ceremony.

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Sources said his resumption of duty might be due to the initial statement on Thursday by the Special Adviser to the President (Information and Strategy) Bayo Onanuga, that announced his nomination by the president as the new chairman.

Mr Onanuga, in his initial statement said the nominee should resume work immediately in acting capacity pending when he is screened and confirmed by the Senate. But shortly after that, the Presidency through Mr Onanuga, issued another statement saying the nominee should resume after his confirmation.

The second statement had asked the current acting chairman, Musiliu Oseni, who is also the vice chairman of the commission, to continue on the current role.

The first statement by Onanuga, which reiterated that Engr. Ramat and two others nominated as commissioners are all subject to Senate confirmation, stated thus; “…to avoid a leadership vacuum in the critical regulatory agency, the president directed that Engr. Ramat assumes office in acting capacity pending his screening by the Senate, as stipulated by the law. President Tinubu urged the new appointees to use their knowledge and experience to discharge their functions and work assiduously to advance the administration’s power sector vision.”

The second statement with the title; reissued, said, “The commission’s acting chairman will continue to hold his position until the confirmation of the new chairman-designate.”

Ramat, during a handover ceremony at the headquarters of the commission yesterday, said his visit was to report first, appreciate the commissioners handling the affairs of the commission and then fully resume on Monday.

“We have been seeing your efforts for the past 8 or 10 years and we believe you have done your best in updating and improving the NESI. So we are here first to learn from you and to get direction from you so that there will be harmony. Once we can work together and don’t have any obstacle or breaches, I believe there and then we can be able to impact the outside,” he said.

 He thanked Allah and the president for giving him the opportunity, adding that he would go through the documents of the commission “and we will learn a lot, then we set the ball rolling. I believe we cannot change things overnight but if we join hands together I believe we are going to have more efficiency as to improve the Nigerian electricity supply industry. So Insha Allah we are going to do a lot because I believe there is a lot of work to do.

“We know the problems Nigerians are facing so this time is not going to be business as usual. The distribution company and the generation company must do the right thing; this is my message to them”, he said.

Earlier, the acting chairman, Oseni, said there is a need for stability in the industry at this material time to navigate the ongoing reform of transferring the oversight to the states and ensure that the country achieves the much expected growth in the industry.

“On behalf of my colleagues once again, you are welcome and we look forward to all the initiatives you will be bringing on board for improvement in the power sector. The Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission or the Nigeria Power Sector General is more or less governed by the Act of the National Assembly.

“This is the Act of 2023 that provides the mandates of the commission, the powers of the commission and the limitation of the commission. Also, we have what we call the business rules of the commission which govern the operation of the commission, especially with respect to the issues of market and on this note, on behalf of my colleagues, we hand over this to Mr. Garba.”

 

What to know about the nominee

He was born in 1985 and received his primary school certificate from a community school in his locality and completed his junior secondary school education at the Government Technical College, Ungogo.

He obtained his secondary school certificate from Dawakin Tofa Science College and pursued his first degree at Bayero University, Kano, graduating with a second-class upper division in Electrical Engineering.

While at university, he founded; AG RAMAT GLOBAL LINKS, an IT and computer-based company in 2008. Engr. Ramat continued his education at Jodhpur International University, India, where he earned a master’s degree in Telecoms. He has a PhD in Strategic Management from Lincoln University.

As a businessman, he expanded AG RAMAT GLOBAL LINKS, which now has branches in Nigeria, Chad, India, and Dubai. The company has diversified into agriculture, mining, import/export, while maintaining its core expertise in computers (software and hardware) and other gadgets.

In 2018, he sought election to the Federal House of Assembly, representing the Ungogo and Minjibir Constituency in Kano State, under the People’s Redemption Party (PRP). However he lost the election.

He also holds certifications from world-class institutions, including Harvard University (Big Data Analytics, Civil Engagement), Google (Workshop Administration), Microsoft (Azure Solutions Architect Expert), and Gonzaga University (Power Transmission and Distribution Systems). He contested again for the chairman of Ungogo LGA in 2021 and won the election.

He championed Nigeria’s first blockchain-based decentralised e-identity system, facilitating the issuance of tamper-proof indigene and resident ID cards.

A pioneer in digital security systems, Engr. Ramat also developed LURA, a next-generation smart surveillance platform that integrates IoT, biometrics, and real-time analytics to support community safety and combat organised crime.