On reforms at Rural Electrification Agency

The President, Muhammadu Buhari, in his second tenure took a bold step by appointing a seasoned electrical engineer, Engr. Saleh Mamman, as Minister of Power. Since the assumption of office of Engr. Saleh Mamman, as Minister of Power, he has been relentless and dogged in a quest to transform the sector which has been confronted […]

The President, Muhammadu Buhari, in his second tenure took a bold step by appointing a seasoned electrical engineer, Engr. Saleh Mamman, as Minister of Power. Since the assumption of office of Engr. Saleh Mamman, as Minister of Power, he has been relentless and dogged in a quest to transform the sector which has been confronted with hydra-headed challenges for several years. As a keen follower of happenings within and around the power sector and in particular the Rural Electrification Projects, which remains an integral part of the power sector, I salute the courage of the Minister for the recent institutional changes ongoing at the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), which is one of the strategic parastatals in the ministry. That is why I find it nauseating reading sponsored articles and stories aimed at tarnishing the image and good intentions of the Hon. Minister who is putting things straight for the benefit of common Nigerians who have been denied the essential services of adequate electrification by a few cabal at the REA.

Specifically, worrisome is a report on page 41 of the Nation Newspaper of Friday, January 3, 2020 and Peoples Daily of January 6, 2020 which sought to interrogate the well thought out wisdom and decision of the minister to rejig some of the Directorate and the narrative that the former Minister of Power never interfered with the operations of the REA. This is not true, and to put the record straight,  the former Minister against Civil Service rules of promotion, promoted the most junior Assistant Director to the post of a Director.

Simply put, it is either corruption is fighting back or a cabal which has been holding sway in the scheme of dubious deals and antics are at work and bent on frustrating the effort of the Minister whose interest is to correct age long anomalies.

For those who are not in the know, before the Minister came on board, the REA for some years now have been held by the jugular and being suffocated by a cabal mostly directors who operate as ‘lords’ with claims that they must decide whatever happens at the agency to the detriment of the advancement of the sector. This same cabal with ‘enormous wealth’ at their disposal even as civil servants, determine how the budget is prepared without the input of other management staff. Even the 2020 budget of the agency just passed is believed to be manipulated by the ‘powerful cabal’ who are a handful of Executive Directors and Directors.

They sponsor negative reports and articles against the new MD, manipulate and tinker with the Bill of Quantity to suit their nefarious plans, change the Tenders Board Approval (highest decision making body on approval of contracts) to favour fronts and cronies, approve payments of contracts before job done and give out contracts to unqualified contractors from a particular zone of the country. The principle of Federal Character is not in the books of these vicious men and women and so it is not unusual that they are fighting back the way they are doing using every means possible against the Minister who having gone through the books and peruse numerous petitions have decided to play by the anti-corruption stance of President Buhari. If not, why complain about redeployments which is a normal routine exercise in government? Is it not clear to discerning minds that their motive is to cling and continue business as usual?

For me, the clean-up and searchlight by the Minister should be extended to other departments and agencies in the power ministry because the cabal have also hijacked the Budget and Finance Departments. Of the truth, after contract award, they manipulate and change the BOQ being awarded and what is being awarded in most cases is not what is being paid for. They have positioned their children and cronies as fronts. The resolve of the Minister to effect the very necessary and needed changes to curtail these vicious hawks from diverting public funds have been the reason for calling him unprintable names. The question is, why is the entire REA on fire because of the routine redeployment of just two directors? Is this not a pointer to the fact that corruption is fighting back and there is a sinister ploy of cover up by this evil cabal?

I urge the Minister not to bulge or be intimidated by these people and should in fact intensify and extend the changes to all the departments in the agency which have been strategically manned and manipulated by stooges and fronts of this group to syphon tax payers’ money.

Mr Nduka, sent this piece from Ogui Road, Achara, Enugu