ABUJA (Sundiata Post) – Fear has gripped investors in the power sector following the sack of the management of the Niger Delta Power Holding Company Ltd. (NDPHC) and the apparent delay in reconstituting it to enable the organisation play it’s pivotal role in the search for solution to the current energy crisis in Nigeria.
The Federal Government had early in June dissolved the executive management of the NDPHC, sacked the managing director, Mr. James Abiodun Olotu and appointed Mr Chiedu Ugbo as acting managing director.
Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, who issued the sack order, directed all executive directors of the company and the general nanager (audit) to hand over to the most senior officer in their respective departments with immediate effect.
However, barely two months after, these changes are yet to be formalised because the Federal Government had since discovered that its decision to unilaterally sack Olotu and the other directors did not follow due process and ran contrary to the rules of engagement of the organisation.
Sources in the power sector said that a cabal within the Presidency instigated the disbandment of the management team to pave way for their favourites to step into the now vacant positions. However, the game could not be fully perfected as neither the outgoing managing director nor his supposed successor has been issued with formal letters of sack or appointment.
It was learnt that investors in the sector were getting worried about the lacuna in the leadership of the NDPHC as they do not know who to approach in respect of new investments or whether there would be major shifts in government policies in the sector.
President Muhammad Buhari, who was away on his last medical vacation in London when the directive sacking the management of the company was issued, has reportedly come under intense pressure to reverse it.
“The President has been told that it would be a breach of the rule of law if his administration failed to correct the anomaly by restoring those who were sacked back to their positions. He is aware that if these directors go to court challenge their unlawful disengagement, it could cause a huge embarrassment to this government,” our source said.
Although, the power brokers within the Presidency who allegedly facilitated the sack of these directors claimed that their disengagement was based on series of petitions and allegations of fraud against them, there was no evidence that they were investigated and found culpable before they were sacked.
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