National Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) on Thursday denied
any involvement in stealing N2.7 billion as protested by the Vanguard
of Unemployed Youths in Abuja.
NERC Chairman, Sam Amadi also stated that no board member of the
commission was involved in the allegation to share the money stating
that the fund was basically meant for the pension and gratuity
liabilities of NERC staffs.
Loading ...Amadi emphasized in an official reaction to the allegation that the
commission is being remunerated like every other regulatory agencies
in such as Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Nigeria Communication
Commission (NCC) among others in the country. He said it was a pension
and severance fund for all its employees.
A national daily, Tuesday had reported plans by a-7 member NERC board
to share a whooping sum of N2.7b among themselves. The report stated
that the Chairman was to takeaway N400m while the Commissioners share
N300m.
According to Amadi, the report was false stressing that the media
organization should have visited the office to seek better
clarification. He said the allegation was a one of several attacks of
a well-designed strategy to discredit NERC management.
“On Monday, November 2, 2015, the Daily Trust newspapers carried a
banner headline: NERC Board Shares N2.7billion. In that report it
stated that the board approved to share N2.7billion as severance for
the 7 board members. It falsely stated that in that sharing formula
the Chairman takes away N400m and the Commissioners take N300m. On
Monday, a faceless group claiming to be a Vanguard of Unemployed
Youths printed Tee-shirts, handbills and fez caps to protest against
NERC commissioner stealing N2.7billion of tax payers’ money and
requesting the removal of NERC Commissioners. Note that these
unemployed youths could print thousands of Tee-shirts and face cap.
“The same Monday, NERC website was hacked into. This was a
sophisticated operation to the extent that the generated an email from
the Chairman’s official email account to the Commissioner for Finance
and Management Services to transfer funds immediately to the Chairman
who the hackers claimed were in the UK. The plan here is simple:
generate an email trail to present to political authorities that the
Chairman and Commissioners at NERC are plotting to embezzle pubic
funds at the twilight of the tenure. On Tuesday, Daily Trust capped it
with a lurid but false account of how the imaginary N2.billion (it was
first N2.7billion now it is N2billion) will be shared in NERC.
“These series of attack are components of a well-designed strategy to
discredit the management of NERC on behalf of operatives who are
pursuing a political agenda similar to the one of 2008. Because we are
proud of our legacy of transparency, openness, due process and prudent
management at NERC, we want to openly refute these falsehoods with
evidence real evidence.”
However, Amadi identified the severance scheme for the NERC
commissioners as follows; “That throughout the almost 5 years of our
tenure we have not made any approval for any increase in our
remuneration that is not as provided for in the law or based on
precedent we meet in the commission; that as regards the severance
package for staff and commissioners, we are only implementing payment
structure that we inherited or now mandated by law. As at the time we
resumed as commissioners, the existing handbook provided for severance
benefit at a minimum of 100% of gross emolument, which is also in line
with the Pension Reform Act.
“It is the same payment structure that was used by Federal Government
to pay the commissioners before us. The payment structure we inherited
and is now being implemented is 100% legal and lawful. It is in
compliance with the Pension Act.
“Furthermore, it is in agreement with practices of similar regulatory
agencies internationally and locally like the CBN and the NCC. NERC
commissioners do not receive any payment that staffs do not receive.
Our severance is the same as the staff. It is as provided for in the
Pension Act. The commissioners receive the same payments as staff and
in the same percentage. I repeat, we have not provided any special
perk for ourselves. We earn like all other employees of NERC.”
