BY AKUDORO GLORIA
The Minister of Power, Chief Adebayo Adelabu has said that sanctions will be melted out on any non-performing agencies under the ministry that failed to deliver on set target.
Adelabu issued this warning at the inauguration of the Ministerial Power Sector Working Group and signing of performance contract with Directors and Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of various Agencies of the sector in Abuja on Tuesday.
Agencies present at the Performance Contract signing were: Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), Rural Electrification Agency (REA), National Power Training Institute (NAPTIN), Nigerian Electricity Management and Safety Agency (NEMSA), Nigeria Electricity Liability Management Company (NELMCO), Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) and Nigeria Bulk Electricity Trading (NBET).
The Minister explained that the inauguration of the working group would serve as a platform for supervisory, monitoring and oversight control as well as clarify issues with detailed explanation of what is happening in the sector for optimal productivity.
He added: “The meeting of the working group would serve more like a backup for sector co-ordination and centralized project management. Another aspect is the synergy that we tend to gain from coming together for the first year and capacity optimization and a refresher opportunity for optimum representation of the Power sector.
“What we are doing at the end of the meeting is to ensure the signing of the performance contract which is like a bond that will compel each and everyone of us to deliver on our target.
“In November 2023, as Minister of Power, I signed a performance contract with the President which actually summarized what the President expects from us. Now, we have cascaded that contract down to the Departments and Agencies that will contribute to the overall achievement of what we signed with Mr. President as we know that it’s a top -down approach, which is also a bottom-up approach”.
He emphasized that the assessment will not hold until the end of the year or end of the quarter, hence, there is need for the engagement of all under the Ministry towards achieving its set targets.
On the sanctioning of defaulters, he said: “Just like the performance delivery is top-down, the reward will also be top-down on achievement. Then, sanctions too, will be top-down. Depending on the sanctions that Mr. President is going to mete out to a non-performing minister and a non-performing council, we will determine the sanctions that will be met out to everybody involved here.”
Adelabu, while enjoined the working group to intensify their efforts in order to achieve the set target, expressed confidence and assurance that the overall target would be achieved as displayed by the response and enthusiasm of the working group.
Although, the National Planning Commission (NPC), developed the criteria for assessing the performance of officials so that top government officials would be judged by how they meet their key performance indicators (KPIs). This also signify a new benchmark in public accountability, as it required each Minister to sign similar contracts with their directors as well as heads of parastatals and agencies under their supervision.