Minister of Power, Prof. Barth Nnaji was, yesterday, relieved of his job following the acceptance of his resignation, with immediate effect, by President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan.
In a two-paragraph statement from Presidential media aide, Dr.
Reuben Abati, the president thanked “Prof. Nnaji for his services to
the nation under the present administration and wishes him well in his future endeavours.”
This is the first time a minister would be resigning under
controversial circumstances since the inception of President Jonathan’s
administration. But the Minister did not pick calls to his line or respond to a text message sent to him to clarify some of the issues leading to his exit.
Although no reason was given for Nnaji’s resignation or the prompt
acceptance by Mr President, but it was widely believed to be connected
with the role he played in the privatisation of the successor companies
unbundled from the Power Holding Company of Nigeria, PHCN, currently
undergoing technical evaluations by prospective bidders.
Acceptance of bids re-evaluation
Ironically, earlier in the day, the Power Minister had succumbed to
the decision by the National Council on Privatisation, NCP, to
re-evaluate the technical bids submitted for two of the companies
slated for privatisation: Afam Generation Company and Enugu
Distribution Company (Enugu DISCO).
This might not be unconnected with moves, not only to save his job,
but also to clear some of the controversies surrounding the bids, in
which he was linked to the consortia that submitted bids for Afam and
Enugu DISCO.
Nnaji was said to have admitted that some members of the bidding
consortia had links to a company he owns (Aba-based, Geometric Power), adding
that the NCP’s decision to re-evaluate the bids submitted for the two
companies was necessary so that justice should not only be done but
also seen to have been done by all and sundry.
He described recent accusations that he indirectly sought to acquire
the PHCN successor companies through firms that have links to him as
part of a grand design to dent the credibility of the privatisation
process. He maintained that the development was a ploy by different
interest groups in the sector to destabilise the ongoing power sector
reform and privatisation process.
In a statement from his media aide, Mr. C. Don Adinuba, the minister
said that a media report on Monday, alleging his participation in the
privatisation process, was part of a strategy of such interest groups,adding that he was never asked by Vice President Namadi Sambo to walk out of the NCP meeting last Friday.
Rather, he maintained that he had opted to excuse himself from the
meeting on the basis of his discovery that the firm in which he had
placed his shares in a blind trust was part of the consortium bidding
for Afam Power Station, in Rivers State.
I knew they will fight back— Nnaji
According to him: “The Federal Ministry of Power has always known that the beneficiaries of the old
and decadent order in the electric power sector would not accept the
new, far-reaching changes in the power sector without a fight.
“With power supply at an all-time high across the nation in the last
few weeks and with the privatisation of PHCN assets at an advanced
stage to the delight of the Nigerian people, those who have been
feeding fat on the misery of our citizens have been fighting back with
unimaginable ferocity.”
The minister further accused some sections of the media of colluding
with his detractors, saying, “they have not left anything to chance in
the determination to scuttle the electric power reform, including
spirited attempts to recruit some members of the mass media.”
The case against Nnaji
Nnaji had before the consideration of the report of the evaluation
for the six generation companies, Gencos, brought to the attention of
NCP that O & M Solutions of Pakistan, a member of one of the
consortia bidding for Afam, had worked as a contractor for Geometric Power.
He also informed the NCP that Geometric Power has a minority stake
in Eastern Electric Nigeria Limited, which had submitted technical and
financial bids for Enugu Disco on July 31, and excused himself from the
consideration of the report of the technical bids.
His sojourn in govt
Nnaji was first appointed in 2010, as the Special Adviser to the
President on Power and Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on
Power. His impressive performance as a presidential aide led to his
appointment as the Minister of Power.
Although right from his time of appointment, he has had a running
battle with the electricity workers unions, notably, the National Union
of Electricity Employees, NUEE, who constantly accused him of not
honouring agreements reached with workers on the power reforms.
In spite of the numerous criticisms against him, power generation
had increased tremendously under his watch, reaching an all time high
of 4,477.7 mega watts, MW earlier in the month, in partial fulfillment
of the expectations from the Electricity Power Sector Roadmap launched
in Lagos on August 26, 2010.
The unprecedented domestic and international investor confidence in
the Nigerian power sector is directly traceable to the personal and
professional integrity of the process drivers like Professor Nnaji.
His style of administration was said to have led to the high
interest by foreign investors in Nigeria’s power sector, leading to the
signing of numerous agreements with global players such as merica’s General Electric, and Germany’s Siemens, each worth about $10billion in addition to many others.
Unionists react
Reacting to the sack of the Minister, General Secretary of the Senior
Staff Association of Electricity and Allied Companies, SSSAEAC, Comrade
Abiodun Ogunsegha, told Vanguard on phone that the entire workers of
the Power Holding Company of Nigeria, PHCN, were extremely happy.
He said: “God has eventually answered our prayers and made the
government to listen to us. It is obvious that the government has noted
his several misdeeds. We are all very happy. In fact, we thank God for
answering our prayers. We hope the government will appoint a right
person that will carry all stakeholders along, especially the union to
give Nigeria a stable power supply”.
In his own reaction, General Secretary of the National Union of
Electricity Employees, NUEE, Comrade Joe Ajaero said, though the reason
adduced for his resignation, was unclear, the union had, for some time
now, been calling for his resignation based on strong allegation of
corruption.
According to him: ‘The reason for his resignation was very unclear.
We would have been happier if the reasons were made known. However, we
have been calling on him to resign. We still stand on the demand
because of the strong evidence we have. You are aware that in recent
time, the issue of his conflict of interest has been in the front
burner. We do not want to talk much, until the reasons for his
resignation or sack are made known.”
