NERC board okays N2.7bn severance pay for members

The board of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has resolved to pay its seven members a total sum of N2.7 billion as severance and gratuity before their five-year- tenure ends in December.

The tenure of the board, which started on December 22, 2010, ends December 22, 2015. The board is headed by Dr Sam Amadi, who is also the chairman of the commission that regulates the electricity industry.

The chairman is to receive N400 million while the rest of the six commissioners are to go home with N380 million each, making a total of N2.7billion, a source told Daily Trust.

The sum includes an upfront salary of two years in which they are not allowed to work in the power sector after leaving office. The costs of their official cars, telephone and electricity rebate allowances, among others, are computed into the sum tagged severance and gratuity.

The board members said their predecessors were also paid, but another source from the commission faulted the argument.

“The Electricity Act in section 36:2 bars the commissioners from working in the sector for two years starting from when they exited. It’s a standard practice even in other industries to avoid insider information abuse. They can work elsewhere anyway.

“There is no provision for them to be paid for those two years. What they are planning now is a fraud. Also, in section 42:18 of the Act, the commissioners and staff of the commission are to be paid salaries as recommended by the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission.

“To the best of my knowledge, there have been no recommendations from the wages commission since 2010 when this board was instituted but there have been increase in their pay,” a source told Daily Trust.

Chairman of the commission, Dr Sam Amadi, told Daily Trust last night that it was incorrect to say the commissioners were not entitled to severance and gratuity.

He said

the

board was relying on Nigerian pension laws which provide for severance package for all workers in Nigeria.

Though he declined to confirm the specific amount for the seven commissioners, he said it was based on the specific position of the individual staff, the commissioners inclusive.

“We did not do anything outside of what the former commissioners approved. They approved severance package for themselves. It is not true that it’s not provided in the Act. It is a compensation for the two years the commissioners are barred from working in the sector,” he said, adding that other regulatory agencies also had such packages for their political appointees including the Security and Exchange Commission, National Communication Commission, NNPC and Central Bank of Nigeria.

Amadi said the board had not sought for the recommendation of the wages commission but that NERC was empowered with the liberty to take the opinion of the wages’ commission or leave it.

However, Daily Trust gathered that the sacked NERC board led by Ransome Owan was never paid gratuities but “salaries of one year and 11 months when they were in court and out of office”.

The board had spent three out of its supposed five years when it was sacked over allegation of corruption. An administrator was appointed to head the commission for the period, a position not known to the law setting it up.

“As the fraud case dragged long in court, the federal government through the office of Attorney General of the Federation negotiated an out-of-court settlement to enable it reconstitute the board. Part of that negotiation was to pay the sacked board members their salaries for the period they were out of office which amounted to N190 million each. This is different from what they are planning now,” Daily Trust was told.

Package already with PFA

“The commissioners have already benefitted three vehicles each in the past five years. They inherited the cars left behind by the last board. In a matter of months, they claimed the cars, citing depreciation and acquired new ones. In the gratuity and pension computed for the soon to exit commissioners, brand new SUVs are included among other sundry allowances,” a source said.

In June, 2015, one of the commissioners, Mr Eyo Ekpo, resigned his appointment citing loss of confidence and focus by the commission’s leadership.

A source with knowledge of the board’s resolve to pay its members the jumbo severance said the money had been warehoused with a pension fund administrator waiting to receive instruction for prompt payment.

“The board is said to be mounting pressure for Mr Ekpo’s portion of the money to be paid, apparently to pave way for smooth payment of other members own,” he said.

Daily Trust could not confirm if the movement of the money was done after President Muhammadu Buhari ordered government ministries and agencies to implement the Treasury Single Account (TSA). Paving way for cronies The commissioners are also plotting to have their personal assistants who came with them on appointment to be given permanent job status at top levels beyond their qualification, Daily Trust investigations further shows.

Some of the assistants are relations and cronies of the commissioners, a source told Daily Trust. The development is causing disquiet among staff of the commission and other industry operators.

The commission advertised for vacancies into 64 positions in 2013 and conducted aptitude tests nationwide, spending millions of naira to hire a job consultancy firm Restral Limited.

The successful candidates were not given jobs, but Daily Trust gathered that the seven commissioners are now “bent on foisting their people on the commission which is currently in poor financial situation”.

“Their plan is to leave behind their aides to be ratified as permanent staff in the commission in case they are not reappointed by President Muhammadu Buhari,” a source said.

A commissioner’s younger sister who had been in school was brought in few months ago primed for one of the jobs, a source alleged, adding that some did not partake in the aptitude tests while others reportedly failed but are on the line to be employed.

Amadi however faulted the claim, saying “It’s an internal vacancy announcement. The center for management development is to conduct the exams . No law says one’s sister or brother should not be in the commission. The past commissioners gave automatic permanent jobs to their aides but here, we are going through a due process.”