Power Sector Stakeholders Express Concern Over Ramat’s Appointment As NERC Chairman
By Sunday Etuka, Abuja
Some power sector stakeholders and analysts have raised concerns about the appointment of Dr. Abdullahi Garba Ramat as the Chairman of the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).
They described his appointment by President Bola Tinubu, as the most challenging and difficult to understand appointment since the sector was privatised in 2013.
According to them, there was no time a career politician was appointed to head the NERC, which is seen as the engine room for the optimisation of government’s policies and programmes for the critical role the power sector plays in the economy of the nation.
Commentators and observers hold the view that as a career politician, his focus would be more on politics than the technical demands of the office.
Not that alone, some sector analysts who also spoke on the matter on the condition of anonymity said the appointment of a career politician ‘portends’ great danger for the sector because in the event that he begins to drift as a result of the paucity of knowledge of the sector by the chairman, his removal will be very difficult to affect the president, as he will not want to offend his political godfathers whose support he badly needs for the politics of2027.
Of particular concern for the stakeholders is the fact that Dr. Abdullahi Garba Ramat is coming into the sector not just as a complete greenhorn but at a time when the sector that has the need of the expertise of a technocrat instead of a politician to pilot its affairs as it transits into a cost reflective tariff, bilateral agreement and a multiplicity of markets.
Citing the imbroglio thrown up by the tariff adjustment by the Enugu Electricity Regulatory Commission, industry watchers who spoke under strict anonymity said it is only an appointee that has deep understanding of the sector that can provide the type of leadership that is needed to steer it in the right direction when it becomes inevitable to take decisions on critical issues that plague the sector.
Analysts are also quick to refer to the Facebook page of the chairman where he said he has moved from overseeing one local government area in Kano to overseeing the 774 local government areas in the country. This comment is viewed by industry watchers as clear evidence of a wrong mindset that the chairman is bringing to the office of a regulator.
One of them said: “this regulator is a politician who will see this appointment as an opportunity to dispense political patronage and not an opportunity to lead the sector in the direction of profitability and sustainability.”
Some are even of the view that Dr. Abdullahi Ramat ought not to have taken over yet because he has not gone through the mandatory clearance by the Senate, which has the responsibility to screen him before confirming his appointment.
“We are sincerely worried about the way Mr. President has gone about the appointment of Dr. Ramat and cannot understand the haste intaking over the mantle of office when even the Presidency was not sure of whether they wanted him in a substantive or acting capacity” another analyst said. “Charging in with 50 Political Jobbers on day 1, after the reissued Villa statement said he should wait for confirmation raises all manner of questions about the man’s intentions.”
There are also those who question the character of the new chairman having been arrested by the Police for attacking the convoy of Alhaji Rabiu Kwankwaso in Kano. As a matter of fact, he was said to have stormed the Headquarters of NERC yesterday in a manner that looked more like attending apolitical rally with military personnel providing him security.
They therefore urged the President to assemble the right team for the difficult task ahead.
