Jonathan’s power sector reform hijacked

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More news on the state of the Nigerian Political System via Saturday Punch: I would deeply suggest/advise that our leaders should not jeopardize the ''trust'' that we have in this present administration, due to their personal selfish ambitions and mis givings towards each other. President Goodluck Jonathan and Vice President Namadi Sambo, should please take note.

The plan of President Goodluck Jonathan to ensure stable electricity supply to Nigerians may have been hijacked by opposing interest groups in the power sector.

Investigations by our correspondents have shown that the crisis between workers in the sector and the Minister of Power, Prof. Bath Nnaji, is delaying the power sector reform.

Other problems, which have remained intractable, include inadequate supply of gas and water, as well as the slow pace of the privatisation of the sector.

It was learnt that there are other entrenched interests militating against Jonathan’s objective of giving uninterrupted power supply to Nigerians.

The minister, it was learnt, is dealing directly with the President on the issue of privatisation of the PHCN and not through Vice-President Namadi Sambo, who is the chairman of the National Council of Privatisation.

The ministry source said that the VP was not comfortable with the situation.

A national newspaper (not THE PUNCH) had on Thursday reported that 17 investors, who had mobilised resources to buy 17 succession companies of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria, were developing cold feet.

Their reaction, it was reported, was connected with the Federal Government’s shift in the date of the privatisation of the PHCN from March 2012 to October 2012.

The President had, during the inauguration of the roadmap for power sector reforms on August 26, 2010 at the Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos, promised that Nigerians would enjoy stable power supply as from 2012.

He had said, “By God’s grace, by December 2012, Nigeria will not only celebrate one day of uninterrupted electricity supply, but we would celebrate one week, one month and so on of uninterrupted electricity supply.”

But in spite of the President’s promise, electricity supply had in the last one year dropped from 3,600MW to 3,200MW.

It was learnt that the crisis between workers and the minister led to the sacking of three directors in the sector.

It was also learnt that the lay-off of the directors had become counter-productive and might delay Jonathan’s power sector reform.

But in a telephone interview with one of our correspondents on Thursday, the minister, who listed inadequate gas and water supply as the major setbacks to the power sector, insisted that the directors had to go for the sector to move forward.

The minister, who announced the sacking of the power chiefs, had on Monday explained that the move was part of the measures to achieve the FG’s desire for increased power generation and distribution in the country.

The power chiefs, who were sent on compulsory retirement, were the Managing Director of the Transmission Company of Nigeria, Mr. Akinwumi Bada; the Market Operator, Mr. Uzoma Achinanya; and Executive Director, Human Resources at the Power Holding Company of Nigeria, Mr. Olushoga Muyiwa.

It was learnt that Achinanya was recommended to Jonathan for appointment as minister of power by the Cross River State Governor, Liyel Imoke, who was also a former minister of power.

The minister did not hide the fact that the sacking of the electricity chiefs had to do with alleged acts of sabotage against the ongoing reforms in the power sector.

He had said, “A few persons are internally trying to tinker with the system. We are dealing with them. We are going to vigorously pursue any hindrance to supply and clean up the system.

“There are some people who do not want progress in the country. We need to manage these issues. We are making adjustments in the management of the 18 successor companies and the PHCN.

“There will be a major adjustment. We have no choice than to do this so that the country can move forward. The quality of management is essential in moving the sector forward. We cannot continue to have swings in power. We want this to change.”

But a highly-placed source in the ministry of power said the sacking of the trio would not add to the planned improvement of the electricity profile of the country.

The source said the sacking was a wrong move as it attracted widespread interpretations and concerted opposition from key players in the sector.

It was being claimed that the three power chiefs were laid off because they were objective and were also prevailing on the minister to ensure that the process was not rushed but carried out in stages.

Also, the source said that the sacking of the three power chiefs would lead to litigation as it was in violation of their terms of engagement.

The three PHCN top shots were said to have been laid off without any prior query and in a manner that violated the conditions guiding their contract with the government.

The source stated, “To me, the sacking of these people is a wrong move; the people are objective and they have been telling the minister, please, let’s do this thing in stages; let’s be strategic but he doesn’t want any criticism.

“He is accusing them of sabotage. Do they generate electricity? And you know, they have a contract of employment; they were not given any chance to defend themselves.”

The source said the sacking had affected the prospect of an easier resolution of the labour issues surrounding the privatisation of the PHCN.

Investigations showed that the incident had prepared the groundwork for the management of the corporation and the electricity workers to forge a common front to resist the FG.

The source said the implication of the sack was that it had created tension in the PHCN cadres.

It is believed that with the present situation of things at the PCHN, it would be difficult for the FG to effectively handle any emergent industrial crisis in the sector.

But when contacted, the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the Vice-President, Mr. Umar Sani, denied it, saying the VP and Nnaji had a smooth relationship.

Sani stated, “There is nothing like that. The Vice-President and the minister have a smooth relationship.”

Justifying the government’s action on the directors, Nnaji said the sack followed the due process.

He denied sacking them for giving him good advice.

He said, “If that is what they say, so be it. People usually like to defend themselves. There is no person you will retire that would not give you excuses. I cannot take issues with them.

“We want the sector to move forward and move forward. Nigerians want electricity and we are going to give it to them.

“I have a long history of working with the best people right from the United States. I’m not the person that can sack a person that is doing well. I work with the best people and I defend them.”

He denied circumventing due process in any dealing in the power sector.

“We are absolutely following due process. The President insists on it. The VP insists on it. The FG is absolutely following due process,” he stated.

Nnaji said the drought in the northern part of the continent along the Fouta Jallon area affected the hydro plants in the country and had reduced the generation capacity of the plants by half.

On gas, Nnaji said, “Gas is a major impediment because investment had not been done for quite some time in both the gathering and transportation of gas.

“While we had moved ahead in the development of power plants, the gas is not there. But we must find a solution to the problem. We cannot be held hostage by gas.

“We are working together with the Minister of Petroleum Resources to address this problem. We cannot be held hostage by gas which we have in abundance.”

But the Secretary General of the National Union of Electricity Employees, Mr. Joe Ajaero, argued that the sacking of the electricity chiefs could not have been in relation with electricity generation.

He described the action as a move to deceive the President about happenings in the power sector.

He said, “They cited power degeneration as the reason for the sacking, the market operator, who allocates power, the GM, Human Resources, and the CEO Transmission, have nothing to do with generation.

“The power situation in the country has been a generation problem; Kainji was shut down, there was no gas to plants. It was a problem of generation. If you talk of the Benin explosion, if there is no supply in the creeks, supply would be down. The machine that got burnt was manufactured in 1964, how do you now link it to the man there?”

Ajaero called on the President and other key players in the sector to ensure an objective assessment of the power sector in order to determine whether power generation had increased under him or not.

He said that rather than improving, electricity generation had dropped from 3,600MW to 3,200MW under the minister, stressing that what was happening in the country was manipulative distribution of available megawatts.

Ajaero, who disagreed with the minister’s comment that the FG might come up with a voluntary package for workers in the sector in the event of a breakdown in negotiations, said that such a package would be taken as a bonus from the government outside of the pending issues under the negotiation.

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Simply Cheska...