NERC as DRAIN PIPE

Reports emanating from the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), indicate that members of the board who are about to retire in December, will take home a cumulative princely sum of N2.7 billion as severance allowance.

A breakdown of the figure shows that the chairman of the board will pocket N400 million while the other six commissioners will share the balance. The reports further explained that the money includes upfront salary of two years during which they are not allowed to work in the sector after leaving office.

However, information available to us on the matter insisted that there was no provision in the relevant statute books to the effect that they should be paid for those two years they were not expected to work in the sector for ethical reasons. Even the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission has no provision for their allowances beyond paying their wages in line with subsisting regulations.

The question to ask is: were they not aware of the terms of their contract which says that they will not be allowed by law to take up employment in the sector two years after retirement? In that contract document, was it clearly stated that the government will pay them some money in lieu? The law permits them to work elsewhere outside the sector. If they do, will they still be paid by whoever employs them?

The only interpretation of this development at NERC is that it was a board decision to resort to self-help with all it implies. The intention is for the members to assess their own performances and reward themselves as they deem appropriate. And for them, what is appropriate is N2.7 billion. This is morally not acceptable. If every agency of government follows suit, it will definitely result in profligacy and even graft. It is reprehensible that the board claimed that they were at liberty to seek or not to seek the opinion of the commission in charge of salaries and wages. Even more horrifying is the claim that they were also not bound by the opinion of that commission if and when offered.

The nation is still reeling over the severance package and other perks of office that members of the National Assembly approved for themselves that run into billions of naira. Also, the state governors and their coterie of aides and other associates took their own unfair share of the nation’s wealth as severance allowances and retirement benefits.

Until this scandal in NERC broke, most Nigerians were not aware that this could be going on in most of these agencies of government. The attention was on politicians who see political office as opportunity to recoup expenditure incurred during electioneering not knowing that public servants are helping themselves quietly, unrestrained and at our collective expense

Curiously, this obvious roguery pervades the gamut of all the so-called regulatory agencies. Nigerians certainly did not bargain for this. With this kind of squandermania going on, is it any surprise that they end up achieving nothing in practical terms as the money they generate go into servicing their welfare?

The thing to do now to check this nonsense, in our opinion, is for the government to clearly define the terms of engagement of these boards if no such regulation presently exists; it should also fast-track the rationalisation of the agencies. This madness must stop.