By Blessing Patrick
The House of Representatives Sub-Committee on the Protection of Critical National Assets on Thursday, dismissed the corruption allegation against the Nigerian Electricity Liability Management Company by a civil society group, the Association for Public Policy Analysis (APPA).
The Association had through its President, Princewill Okorie, accused NELMCO of misappropriation of funds, shady operations, among sundry allegations.
APPA had also questioned the continued existence of NELMCO 12 years after its privatisation.
At the resumed public hearing on the matter on Thursday, the Chairman of the Committee, Dabo Ismail said the panel took the allegations seriously and immediately launched a comprehensive investigation to unmask what truly transpired.
According to the Bauchi lawmaker, NELMCO’s existence is backed by the provisions of the Nigerian Electricity Act, 2023, thus, dismissing the position of the petitioner that the agency ought to have folded up in 2017 after the privatisation of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria.
“We asked NELMCO to provide us with documents backing their existence and they did. Under the Nigerian Electricity Act 2023, NELMCO assumed responsibility for all the PHCN’s and successor companies’ assets and liabilities. So, this enabling law and the Committee verified this law to be true and correct,” the Committee Chairman said.
Responding to the allegation that NELMCO spent N94m on a five-day retreat in Lagos, the Managing Director of NELMCO, Mojoyinoluwa Dekalu-Thomas expressed the readiness of the agency to provide evidence of the expenditure incurred in the course of the training.
She said, “The Director General of the Debt Management Office, the Director General of the Bureau for Public Procurement, my executive directors, two non-executive directors, facilitators-25 people in all spent five days at the Intercontinental Hotel, Lagos and we have pictures and documentary evidence to support this.
“We paid for flights, logistics, food, accommodation and that is where the N94 m went. It was not a one-day event but a five-day retreat and the Minister of Power was there for the entire retreat. This is documented too,” a claim supported by the Committee.
According to Hon Ismail, the N94m “Is justifiable considering the dignitaries that attended the five-day retreat.”
An unidentified member of the committee added that at the Eko Signature Hotel Lagos, “A moderate room is N650,000 per night. Five nights for 25 people will cost N81m, no feeding, no ticketing. This figure (N94m) might be big in our eyes, but I think it is justifiable.”
In his contribution, a member of the Committee, Mr Billy Osawaru said since the N94m was appropriated, there was no need for members to deliberate further on the issue.
“Was the money appropriated? Mr Chairman, if the money was appropriated, what that means is that at some point they brought this to us and we approved it. I don’t think that at this point we should start going back. So if they have brought all this proof, we should move on,” he said.
The Chairman of the Committee again said all documents relating to the five-day retreat including payments made for logistics, were submitted by the agency during its investigation.
He also dismissed the petitioner’s claim of a purchase of office in the North by the agency, saying, “We didn’t see evidence of purchase of office in the North.”
The Committee urged the petitioner to feel free to come forward with other subsequent findings, promising that it would do justice to every petition submitted before it in the interest of Nigerians.
