House Committee Moves to Abolish NDE, NEMSA

*Demands five-year performance assessment report from NDE in one week

Juliet Akoje in Abuja

The House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee investigating Overlapping Functions of Government Agencies yesterday said the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) and the National Electricity Management Agency (NEMSA) were not living up to their mandate of providing employment to teeming unemployed Nigerians.

The committee also stated that there was weak metering system by electricity distribution companies in the power sector.
The lawmakers 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.
The Chairman of the House Committee, Hon.Victor Mela while ruling at an investigative hearing where NEMSA, NDE NELMC and  NAPTI were invited by the Committee said the agencies have not lived to the expectations of citizens.

Mela noted that the House Committee was inaugurated by the House Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon.Femi Gbajabiamila to investigate the issue  of overlapping mandate of some of the government agencies, adding that there was need to merge some of the agencies.
The Managing Director of NEMSA Engr. Aliyu Tukur during the hearing said the agency was established in 2015, by federal government to ensure that there was reliable electricity supply in the nation’s power industry.

Tukur added that the agency was 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, members of the Committee, Hon Adedeji Olajide and Hon. Zacharia Yanpan, while expressing their displeasure over their overall performance in the electricity industry, argued that the agency has and overlapping mandate with the Standard Organisation of Nigeria and lamented that government was facing huge challenge in funding them.

Olajide said: “The agency is sucking the blood of Nigerian citizens and should be merged with other agencies performing similar functions.”
The Director-General, NDE, Mr. Abubakar Nuhu said that the agency was mandated by law to provide employment to unemployed Nigerians and vulnerable persons residing in Nigeria.

“The agency has 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 the mandate,” he added.
But Hon. Mela and Hon. Simon Karu said there was massive unemployment and the agency had not really lived up to the responsibility.

Karu consequently 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.