Power Sector Reforms: Jonathan reconstitutes committees

President Goodluck Jonathan has reconstituted two committees on the power sector, with a pledge that the current stable power supply in the country will be sustained even after the rainy season. The two committees, whose reconstitution was triggered by the sudden resignation of the Minister of Power, Prof. Bart Nnaji, on August 28, are the Presidential Action Committee on Power (PACP) and the Presidential Task Force on Power.

The committees are charged with the responsibility of overseeing the implementation of the Federal Government’s agenda for power sector reforms.

In the reconstituted committees, Jonathan will retain the chairmanship of PACP, which was established in June 2010 to provide leadership and guidance for the rapid development of Nigeria’s power sector and determine the general policy direction and strategic focus of reforms in the sector. Vice-President Namadi Sambo will serve as the deputy chairman of the committee whose other members shall include the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, the Head of Service, Chief of Staff to the President, Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Minister of Labour and Productivity, Minister of Power, Minister of State for Power and Minister of Petroleum Resources.

Other members are Minister of National Planning, Chief Economic Adviser to the President, Special Adviser to the President (Performance Monitoring & Evaluation), Director-General, Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), Director-General, Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Chairman of the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) and Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Power. The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Power will serve as secretary of PACP.

However, Reynold Dagogo-Jack of the National Integrated Power Project (NIPP) will assume the chairmanship of the Presidential Task Force on Power, which has the duty of developing and driving the Federal Government’s action plan for the power sector, as well as articulating a proper plan of action for implementation in the areas of power generation, transmission and distribution.

Other members of the recomposed task force are the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Power; Chief Executive Officer, Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN); Managing Director, Niger Delta Power Holding Company; Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Gas Company (NGC); Chief Executive Officer, Geregu Generation Company; Chief Executive Officer, Ughelli Generation Company; Chief Executive Officer, Eko Distribution Company; Chief Executive Officer, Abuja Distribution Company; Chief Executive Officer, Nigeria Bulk Electricity Company; Chief Executive Officer, Gas Aggregation Company of Nigeria and Mr. Evaristus Mogbo.

President Jonathan exonerates Prof. Nnaji

President Goodluck Jonathan, at a town hall meeting in Onitsha, the commercial nerve centre of Anambra State, said that he accepted Nnaji's resignation despite his accomplishment in the power sector during his short tenure to protect the privatization process. In his first comment on the matter, the president said that the former minister only resigned in order to give credibility to the privatization of the power sector. The president said before an assemblage of Anambra elite and the entire South-east, that he was seizing the opportunity of being in their midst to exonerate the minister.

According to the President, “I have to make it clear that Professor Nnaji is a very competent professor; he is a product of the World Bank, a professor of engineering. He is very competent in the sector but we agree that there are expectations and that is what happens all over the world”.

Prof. Nnaji, in an earlier statement had rebutted reports that he was forced out of government, saying that he voluntarily resigned his position to protect his integrity. He said he voluntarily resigned to protect his integrity, which he stated had come under scurrilous attacks recently by "powerful vested interests" that were hell bent on destroying all he had worked for over the years.