The House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee investigating overlapping functions of Government Agencies has said that the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) and the National Electricity Management Agency (NEMSA) are not living up to their mandate of providing employment to Nigerians and there is weak metering system by electricity distribution companies in the power sector.
The House Ad-hoc Committee also demanded a five-year performance assessment report from the NDE for it to justify its existence in line with the mandate of the probe panel.
Chairman of the House Committee, Hon.Victor Mela gave the ruling at an investigative hearing where NEMSA, NDE and others were invited by the Committee, saying that the agencies have not lived up to the expectation of citizens.
At the hearing, Managing Director of NEMSA, Engr.Aliyu Tukur said that the agency was established in 2015 by federal government to ensure that there is reliable electricity supply in the nation’s power industry.
He also said that the agency is mandated by laws to ensure that materials used in the industry are of confirmed technical specifications adding that the agency is in-charge of quality metering.
However, some Committee members such as Hon Adedeji Olajide and Hon.Zacharia Yanpan expressed displeasure over their overall performance in the electricity industry.
They argued that the agency has overlapping mandate with the Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) and lamented that government is facing huge challenge in funding them.
Hon Olajide said “the agency is sucking the blood of Nigerian citizens and should be merged with other agencies performing similar functions”.
The Director-General of NDE, Mr Abubakar Nuhu, said the agency is mandated by law to provide employment to unemployed Nigerians and vulnerable persons residing in Nigeria.
He said “the agency have presence in all the states of the federation and local council areas and had been providing employment and skills for unemployed Nigerians in line with its mandate”.
But the Committee Chairman, Hon.Mela and Hon.Simon Karu said that there is massive unemployment and the agency had not really lived up to the responsibility.
Hon.Karu immediately moved a motion that the agency should provide a five-year performance assessment report on employment generation or it should be recommended for merger by the panel.
The lawmaker also threatened zero allocation to the National Power Training Institute in the 2023 Budget for its failure to address issues of power outages.
The Chairman, Hon.Mela and committee members adopted the motion and gave the NDE one week to submit the report.
