Industry Regulator, NERC Clears Air On Eko Electricity Distribution Company’s Crisis

The National Electricity Distribution Commission has cleared the air on the crisis rocking Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC).

The industry regulator’s intervention is made known in revelations signed by Babor Egregor, the Chairman of the Legal and Regulatory Committee, Board of Directors of Eko Electricity Distribution Company.

The disclosures contained in a statement dated March 27. 2024 with the header ” Re: Crisis In Eko Electricity Distribution Company – NERC Provides Clarification” reads…

We refer to various misleading publications made in relation to the above in certain news publications dated 26 and 27 March, 2024 and the subsequent clarification issued by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission dated 27March 2024 (Appendix 1).

We therefore wish to inform all stakeholders involved in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) as well as the general public that on March 27th, 2024, NERC issued a letter clarifying a previous directive issued on 21 March 2024 (appendix 2) which was misunderstood and unilaterally acted upon by the Chairman of the Board without recourse to the Board or the appropriate committees of the Board saddled with the responsibility for such oversight. This erroneous and unilateral action caused the Chairman of the Board to release a press statement recalling the MD/CEO Dr. Tinuade Sanda and other management staff to the parent company, WPG Limited without due process and against the dictates of the NERC correspondence. Thankfully, NERC has clarified their position on this matter.

According to NERC’s latest clarification, “The Commission has noted the strong public interest generated by the current event at EKEDP and the various interpretations of the resolutions conveyed vide the said letter, particularly, with respect to paragraphs (4b) and 4(c). We therefore hereby provide further clarifications as follows:

1.Paragraph 4b: All staff of EKEDP, irrespective of their form of engagement, will be subject to the Conditions of Service of EKEDP. The Commission deemed it necessary to pass this resolution based on the submission of EKEDP, at the meeting of 20 March 2024, that the Condition of Service (“CoS”) of EKEDP was not applicable to Seconded personnel from third party providers”.

EKEDP RESPONSE: The Board is resolved to align with the dictates of the regulator, going from our resolutions at the last board meeting held in March 2024.

 2.Paragraph 4c – “EKEDP Board is expected to conclude its review of its investigation into the allegation of Ghost workers to identify all personnel involved in causing loss of revenues to EKEDP no later than 27th March 2024. In a case where the indicted parties are seconded from third party providers and since they are reportedly NOT subject to the EKEDP CoS, they are to be recalled to their parent companies to avoid the risk of further losses to EKEDP”.

EKEDP RESPONSE: This suggestion by the regulator is welcome as it strengthens corporate governance within EKEDP as an institution.

OUR STAND

We appreciate the proactive action of the Commission and the clarifications, which unambiguously indicate that:

(A) all contracts of employment of anyone working for EKEDP, whether of WPG, EKEDP, or otherwise, must be subject to and regulated by the Condition of Service of EKEDP.

(B) The legal fulcrum and basis for the purported recall of the seconded staff has been vitiated and now non-existent since the basis of the recall of the seconded staff was the initial misinterpretation of the previous NERC Resolution/Orders

(C)  The express recall and termination of the contract of employment of staffers/employees whose actions led to a loss of revenue to EKEDP. The staff in question, Wola Joseph-Condotti, Sheri Adegbenro and AikAlenkhe, had been subjected to Disciplinary Committee proceedings – the outcome of which has been contested by some Board members. It must be noted that the board of EKEDP also includes The Bureau of Public Enterprises as a representative of the Federal Government of Nigeria on the Board-

Consequently, the seconded Management staff of WPG Limited, whose recalls were done in “error” are hereby mandated and required to return to their respective management positions, duties, and offices EXCEPTthose named in (C) above, who have already been identified and subjected to Disciplinary Committee proceedings over the allegations of fraud and negligent actions through ghost workers and exited staff, which occasioned financial losses to the Company.

As a responsible corporate entity, EKEDP shall be providing full co-operation with the appropriate law enforcement agencies including the Nigerian Police, the Economic & Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the leadership of the Nigerian Body of Benchers and relevant members of  the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee for further actions on the alleged fraud perpetuated by the afore-mentioned persons.

We once again thank our Regulator, NERC, for providing this clarification, the NESI stakeholders, and the public for their kind concerns, as well as theemployees of EKEDP and WPG Limited for their patience through all of this.

We therefore ask all stakeholders to discountenanceall initial orders or actions unilaterally and erroneouslytaken by the office of the Chairman of the Board without recourse to the board. The purported removal of the Managing Director/Chief Executive in a clear breach of the code of corporate governance isherebyreversed, null and void.

Signed:

Babor Egregor

Chairman

Legal and Regulatory Committee, Board of Directors

Eko Electricity Distribution Company

27March2024

Cc:

Honourable Minister of Power

Federal Ministry of Power

Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission

Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)

Inspector General of Police

Ministry of Finance Incorporated WPG Ltd