They gave the government 14 days to do the needful or face an industrial action.

Seven weeks ago, the Federal Government reached an agreement with workers in the electricity sector, who are claiming that the government had reneged in its promise.

They have threated to resume the suspended strike.

The workers, under the aegis of National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE), threatened to ground power supply nationwide, if government fails to implement last year’s agreement with them.

The union’s grievances include unpaid benefits to over 2,000 disengaged workers of the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) since 2013; underpayment of over 50,000 ex-PHCN staff; payment of half salaries to workers by the power distribution companies (DisCos), among other perceived unfair labour practices.

Addressing reporters Wednesday in Lagos at the NUEE headquarters in Yaba, NUEE General Secretary Joe Ajaero accused the Minister of State for Power, Goddy Agba, of harassment and intimidation during the union’s negotiation on challenges affecting workers in the sector.

The union leader said if issues were not addressed at the end of the ultimatum, the country should hold the minister responsible for the result of such action.

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Fashola was welcomed into the Federal Secretariat by rousing ovation from the staff of the ministry and stepped into his office at about 3.15 p.m.

He was ushered into the office by Mrs Grace Papka, the Director in charge of Human Resources of the ministry.

Thereafter he went into private meeting with the directors in the ministry.

Similarly, the Minister of state for Power, Works and Housing, Alhaji Mustapha Shehuri, also arrived at the complex where he joined the minister and the directors at the meeting.

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Already, stakeholders are considering the outgoing Minister of State for Power, Mohammed Wakil; outgoing Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Senator Bala Mohammed; former Special Adviser on Politics to the President, Ahmed Gulak; and former National Administrative Secretary of PDP, Habu Fari, as top contenders for the plum PDP job.

The new national chairman is expected ‎to come from the North-east as the office is zoned to the geo-political area.

This came to light as fresh facts emerged on how President Goodluck Jonathan got the Chairman, Board of Trustees of PDP, Chief Tony Anenih, to step down from the office, in spite of the willingness he had earlier shown to do so.

Wakil who is from Borno State, according to sources, tops the list of the possible replacement for Mu’azu and his consideration for the office of the PDP chairman, New Mail gathered, is due to his experience on party administration.

Wakil was the leader of the House of Representatives from 1999 to 2003 and later vice national chairman of PDP in the North-east zone.

Before the choice of Mu’azu as national chairman in 2014, he lost out in what could be considered as ‘injury time.’

He also served variously as committee chairman and secretary in most of the committees set up for one reason or the other for party’s sundry issues.

Members of the PDP National Working Committee (NWC) are said to be favourably disposed to have him as the national chairman of PDP till the next national convention of the party in March 2016.

He stands close to pick the ticket because the Yobe / Borno axis is yet to assume national importance in holding of the NWC offices.

The outgoing Minister of FCT, Bala Mohammed, is another strong contender because he is from Bauchi, the same state with Mu’azu, while Fari, the former National Administrative Secretary of PDP, from Taraba State, is also under consideration.

A former minister of state for Transport in the Second Republic, he is seen as the father of PDP in Taraba, having served briefly as Chief of Staff to the former national chairman of PDP, Bamanga Tukur.

Sources also said that Gulak, the former political adviser to President Jonathan, is among those being mentioned as possible replacement for Mu’azu, if Adamawa state is to be given consideration. This is because Tukur, who had occupied the office from 2012 to early 2014, hails from Adamawa State.

However, following the defeat of President Jonathan in the March 28 presidential election, Anenih was said to have voluntarily proposed to Jonathan that he would step down for him (Jonathan) to assume the position in order for him to have a platform on which he would be relevant within the party after leaving office on May 29.

A few party leaders were said to be privy to the proposal, which Anenih has already confirmed in his May 20, 2015 letter to Jonathan in which he formalised his decision to step down.

Jonathan had reportedly rejected the proposal then on the grounds that he would need enough time to rest, having been in government at the state and federal levels since 1999, but that decision did not go down well with the First Lady, Patience Jonathan.

There were feelers, however, that following intense pressure from some quarters within the party on Jonathan to assume the position, he caved in, but could not go back to Anenih to tell him that he was now interested in assuming the position.

The president was said to have quietly entered into a deal with some members of NWC to put pressure on Mu’azu to resign, in order to also pave the way for the resignation of Anenih as the BoT chairman because of his (president’s) renewed interest in the position.

It was learnt that the plan was that as soon as Mu’azu resigned, the NWC should send a delegation to meet with Anenih to convey President Jonathan’s request to him that he should resign as BoT chairman.

Anenih, who was said to have been pissed off by the manner Jonathan went about his renewed interest, did not waste time in sending a one-page letter to the President, recalling his conversation with him (Jonathan) on the issue so as to show how he had voluntarily proposed to hand over to him (president).

Apparently explaining that he had already, even without prompting from any quarters, expressed his readiness to step down for the president, Anenih had, in the letter, formally announced his decision to resign from the office of BoT chairman.

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Minister of State for Power, Mohammed Wakil, through his Special Adviser on Media, Olawale Rasheed, had claimed that he met with some parents and relatives of the abducted schoolgirls on Thursday in Maiduguri.

However, a statement by the Director of Publicity of Kibaku Area Development Association, Dr. Allen Manasseh, said on Friday that the minister had not told the truth concerning the identities of the people he met with, wondering why the media were not invited to cover such an important engagement.

Manasseh said, “Barrister Mohammed Wakil, the Minister of State for Power, was never in any meeting with any parent of the abducted Chibok schoolgirls. He met with some displaced people from his local government, Damboa.”

Manasseh added that Wakil had shown his bias, saying the minister could not be a representative of people in Borno State.

He said it was unfortunate that despite gaining political prominence as a member of the House of Representatives, representing Chibok, Damboa and Gwoza, Wali did not see himself as always welcome outside Damboa.

He explained that a few women from Chibok at the meeting were politicians and
associates of the minister, maintaining that they were not parents of the abducted schoolgirls or representatives of the people of Chibok town.

“I know the details of the meeting and it was never intended for Chibok parents of the abducted girls. The Chibok people and many more from southern Borno are even very angry with Barrister Mohammed Wakil.

“Ever since our people kept suffering and are still languishing under the effects of terrorism, he never for once come anywhere near us; he never shows sympathy for our situations.

Manasseh said, “Mohammed Wakil should bury him head in shame and and we are waiting for him in Chibok whenever he deems fit to visit. But he should stop deceiving Nigerians of what he has never done.

“The entire Chibok people are planning a media briefing to set the record straight. All those who spoke at his meeting in Maiduguri did that on their personal level, not for the abducted girls parents or Chibok people in general.”

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Wakil gave the assurance during the commissioning of the Remodeled National Meter Test Station and opening of the Technical Inspectorate Service Field Office in Lagos.

The minister said that President Goodluck Jonathan had successfully reformed the generation, transmission and distribution sub-sectors, adding that government now focused on effective delivery of safe and reliable electricity supply to Nigerians.

According to him, “we are resolved to enhance consumers and investors’ confidence and certification through sustained inspection, testing and certification of electrical materials and equipment.

“Electricity materials should be of the high quality and specification; all categories of electrical installations, power systems and network must be properly planned, designed and exulted before use.

“Gone are the days of sub-standard equipment and installations which compromised safety of Nigerians. More pointedly manufacturers of fake power equipment are hereby put on notice.

“The long arm of law shall catch-up with those endangering lives of innocent citizens. Nigerians not only want adequate power supply but also safety and reliability’’.

Wakil said that the significance of safety and quality control informed the establishment of Electricity Management Services Limited (EMSL), one of the successor companies established by law.

He added that the agency had grown from nothing to an emerging giant. “I am happy to note that EMSL has, within this short period, achieved remarkable successes which included the re-modeled meter test station and others at Kaduna and Port Harcourt.

“The technical inspectorate service field offices of EMSL has detected defective power equipment in many zones,” he added.

Peter Ewesor, the Managing Director, EMSL, said that the remodeled national meter testing station would be saddled with the roles and responsibilities of enforcement of technical and safety standard.

Ewesor said that others were technical inspection, testing and certification of all categories of electrical materials and equipment and electrical installations.

He said that in line with EMSL mandate and regulations, no electrical installation or network could be used unless it had been tested and certified fit for use by their engineers and technical officers of EMSL.

“Over 10,000 substandard meters have been rejected for not having anti-energy-theft protection. These types would have led to high commercial and collection losses for the investors.

“We have rejected over 5,000 meters having terminal connections that were out of specifications; this would have led to risk to workers and staff of the utility companies and possible burning of the meters on installations,’’ he said.

EMSL is a pivot part of the power sector that provides technical support service of enforcement of technical standard, safety and specification in the power sector

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The Minister of State for Power, Mohammed Wakil, made the disclosure in Abuja when the Vice President of China Hydro International, Han Yang, visited him in his office.

Wakil said that in the policy, government sought to provide an integrated framework for all stakeholders, especially investors in clean energy for power generation and the general development of renewable energy in Nigeria.

He said government was committed to joining the global trend of using clean energy and harnessing solar wind and hydro resources to address the power challenges in the country.

He added that “as we are conversing now, we have concluded work on the National Policy on Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency.

“The policy will harness and provide focal point for all national efforts on renewable energy. This is in line with the commitment of the ECOWAS President, Kadré Desiré Ouedraogo, as well as the need for us as a nation, to diversify our sources of power supply.’’

The minister also said the government was working on a vision to generate about 30,000 megawatts from renewable sources to augment supply from the national grid.

He added that “we are committed to driving President Goodluck Jonathan’s agenda; his vision of a Nigeria where 30,000MW will be generated from renewable sources in the next one decade.’’

“It is to that end that we are also working on a Presidential Initiative on Renewable Energy for power generation. This is to provide the needed political support at the highest level of government for local and foreign investment and drive in solar, wind, small hydro and bio-mass power.”

Wakil said work had reached advanced stage at the Katsina Wind Farm, with a capacity of about 10MW, while other renewable energy projects were ongoing around the country.

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The partial risk guarantee is a risk-sharing mechanism that provides banks with a partial coverage of risk exposure against loans made for energy efficiency projects.

This is contained in a statement issued by Olawale Rasheed, the Special Assistant (Media) to the Minister of State for Power, Mohammed Wakil on Saturday in Abuja.

The statement quoted Wakil as saying this at a discussion on Power Sector in Africa organised by the U.S. Department of Commerce in Miami, Florida.

According to the minister, the fund is domiciled with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the World Bank.

The minister, in his keynote address at the event, said the Federal Government had lined up series of incentives to strengthen investors’ confidence and guarantee return on investment in the sector.

He said that waivers and tax holidays had also been put in place for power equipment importation for generation, transmission and distribution.

He assured investors that return on their investment was guaranteed, saying that very attractive tariffs regime had been put in place for investors in renewable energy sector.

“The government of Nigeria has achieved what industry experts described as one of the most holistic, ambitious and transparent privatisations of power assets in recent times.

“The distribution and generation assets have all been successfully handed over to the private sector since November 2013,” the minister said.

On the Power Africa initiative sponsored by the U.S., he said that Nigeria was poised to take advantage of the initiative as a strategic opportunity for securing the much-needed investment in the sector.

Wakil explained that a Power Africa Desk had since been established at the Federal Ministry of Power to serve as a one- stop-shop for stakeholders in the industry.

According to him, the desk is to attract investments to the Nigerian power sector based on funding and technical assistance provided by the Government of the U.S.

The statement quoted the U.S. Department of Commerce as saying that next month, U.S. Secretary of Commerce, Penny Pritzker, would embark on a trade mission to Nigeria, Ghana and Ethiopia to promote U.S. exports to Africa.

“This is with a view to helping U.S. companies launch or increase their businesses in the energy sector in West Africa,” it said.

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The committee, while submitting its findings to the Federal Government, urged the Presidency to consider allocating at least 1,000 trucks of grains to the troubled states of the northeast in order to avert the looming famine.

The committee submitted its findings to the Federal Government through the Minister of State for Power, Mohammed Wakil in Abuja on Tuesday.

According to the Chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee, Bashir Maidugu, the price of food items in communities in states where emergency was declared by the President had increased tremendously.

“Already, food items have skyrocketed in those areas. There are reports of drought in the neighbouring Niger Republic this year. In Borno State for example, most surrounding villages and towns around Maiduguri have virtually become ghost settlements as their inhabitants have migrated to Maiduguri.

“This has starved the city of traditional supply of food items and other essential commodities. We must state here that Maiduguri infrastructure is over stretched. The magnanimity of Mr. President last year is commendable as the purpose of the strategic grains reserve programme of the Federal Government of Nigeria has been achieved,” Maidugu said.

He recalled that President Goodluck Jonathan had last year approved about 650 trucks of various grains for disbursement to the troubled states, adding that the, gesture was aimed at cushioning the hardship being faced by the inhabitants of these localities who were originally farmers.

“For the last couple of years, farming activities, especially in Borno and Yobe states have virtually come to a halt. These relief items were therefore timely.”

Maidugu said the committee, which was constituted on a fact-finding mission four weeks ago, was to ascertain the actual quantity of grains allocated to Borno State, the mode of distribution and the number of trucks allocated to the state, the actual number of trucks delivered, and the outstanding grains that were still at the silos.

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