Power Supply: FG Signs Performance Bonds with NERC, TCN, REA, Others

•Adelabu says sanctions for non-performance will be top-down

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja

The federal government has signed performance contracts with heads of agencies under the ministry of power in its avowed bid to raise electricity supply nationwide.

Speaking at the event which took place at the Power House in Abuja, the Minister of Power, Chief Adebayo Adelabu stressed that although he was confident that key targets will be met, nonetheless there will be repercussion for failure.

Nigeria’s power supply to its over 200 million population is largely abysmal, with the volume of electricity that reaches homes in the country oscillating between 3,500mw to 4,500mw.

Agencies which signed the bonds included the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) and the National Power Training Institute (NAPTIN).

Also involved in signing the performance deals were the Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency (NEMSA), Nigerian Electricity Liability Management Company (NELMCO) and the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc (NBET).

“In terms of sanctions, let me tell you that I will not sit here today and start rolling out sanctions that will be meted out to non-performance, because I am confident that we are all going to deliver.

“Just like the performance delivery is top-down, reward will also be top-down on achievement. Then, sanctions too, will be top-down. Depending on the sanctions that Mr. President is going to mete out to a non-performing minister and a non-performing council, we will determine the sanctions that will be meted out to everybody involved here.

“So there’s no express or specific sanctions, it will just be that we do our best and put in our best to make sure we achieve our targets,” Adelabu stated.

However, he expressed optimism that the ministry will deliver on some key mandates of the ministry to ensure specific responsibilities are delivered as expected of each chief executive  of the agencies.

According to him, the key targets of the bond were painstakingly put together, to which everyone agreed to implement thoroughly.

He noted that key among the major issues discussed were information sharing and dissemination as well as sector-wide coordination to ensure synergy and capacity optimisation.

“We are going to use the skills that we have across all the agencies and ministries in each of our activities; the  issue of a training platform, a training ground, a refresher opportunity for all of us to know what is happening in the sector so that when we are out there, we can respectively represent the power sector,” Adelabu noted.

He noted that the event was sequel to the November 2023 deal where the minister and permanent secretary signed a performance contract with President Bola Tinubu on key targets.

“We signed that high-level performance contract. Now, we have cascaded that performance agreement down into the various relevant ministerial departments and agencies that will contribute to the overall achievement of what we signed with the president.

“Every department in the ministry and every agency that we have has one or two roles to play in the achievement of the overall targets.  And we believe that a chain is as strong as its weakest link. So, we don’t want any of our ministerial departments or agencies to drop the ball. We must be focused,” the minister said.