Adelabu speaks on disquiet over N12.7 billion meter installation contract
The PowerUp Initiatives for Electricity Rights (PowerUp Nigeria) has urged the Federal Executive Council (FEC) to revive the award of a N12.7 billion meter installation contract to De Haryor Global Services Limited.
Adetayo Adegbemle, executive director of PowerUp Nigeria, made the call in a statement on Wednesday.
PowerUp Nigeria is an electricity consumer rights and policy advocacy organization.
The Nigerian government had earlier in the week announced the flag-off of a N40 billion mass metering project to end the era of estimated billings in the Nigerian Army formations nationwide.
Speaking during the flag-off of the metering exercise at the headquarters of the 9th Brigade of the Nigerian Army, Ikeja military cantonment at the weekend, the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, said the exercise would be in phases with the Ikeja cantonment being the first phase of the exercise.
He noted that the current exercise will last for six weeks before the second phase begins.
Mr Adelabu explained that for the current exercise, the sum of N12.7 billion has been released out of a total of N40 billion for the mass metering project.
Mr Adelabu who was received at the army headquarters by the Commander, A.M Adetuyi, and the Chief Executive Officer of De Haryor Global Services, Ashade Olatunbosun, who is in charge of the metering project said the current exercise is part of President Bola Tinubu’s renewed hope agenda to ensure regular supply of electricity to army formations, nationwide.
“This is one of Mr President’s objectives as contained in the renewed hope agenda to ensure that electricity supply to the armed forces is prioritised and they do not suffer especially in the enjoyment of public utilities,” he said.
Concerns
However, in its statement, Mr Adegbemle said before the announcement, the company, De Haryor Global Services Limited, is not known to have handled any installation of this magnitude.
“De Haryor Global Services Limited is not a registered meter manufacturing/assemblers company, neither is it on the list of manufacturers/assemblers at the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Trades.
“The company, De Haryor Global Services Limited, is not on the first schedule of Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) approved Meter Asset Providers (MAPs),” Mr Adegbemle said.
He said there’s no evidence of public tender/bid for the 40bn Naira worth of contract and neither is there any evidence of meeting the Procurement Act procedures.
“If anyone insists there’s a public tender, let them provide the names of other companies that bid for the installations. There’s no budgetary allocation for this project, neither in the Ministry of Power, nor the Ministry of Finance. A procurement of this magnitude requires FEC approval, no evidence this was sort, or granted,” he said.
Mr Adegbemle, therefore, urged that FEC should review and reverse this process and culprits should be investigated.
He said the Minister of Power should be immediately redeployed or replaced.
Minister Speaks
Reacting in a statement to PREMIUM TIMES Wednesday night, Bolaji Tunji, special adviser on strategic communication and media relations to the Minister of Power, dismissed concerns that due process was not followed in the mass metering project of military formations nationwide, which began last week.
He explained that the federal government had entered a tripartite agreement with Messrs Ziklagsis Network Limited and Unistar International in 2003 for the supply of three million meters to distribution companies (DISCOs) in the country, within three years.
“To kick start the project, a revolving metering loan of N32 billion was released to Messrs Ziklagsis. The agreement was not implemented while the fund remained in the bank account of Ziklagsis at the then Prudent Bank from where it moved to Skye Bank, Polaris and lately, Providus Bank.
“With the privatisation of distribution, the government proposed the metering of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) in order to accurately determine the consumption of these MDAs and also reduce accumulated debts. “ This was what led to the initiative to meter military formations nationwide”, the statement said.
Worried by its bludgeoning electricity debt, according to the statement, the Nigerian Army wrote a letter to the presidency requesting intervention to pay off the outstanding debt and the metering of their formations.
It said the federal government then directed the ministry to look into the army’s request and utilise the funds with Ziklagsis.
“It was then that Ziklagsis was introduced to the Nigerian army by the Ministry of Power. It was around this period that the Nigerian Army also introduced De Haryor Global Services to Ziklagsis to enable them to work together.
“In November 2022, discussion began on the project among the parties and an agreement was signed between the Nigerian Army as a client, Messrs Ziklagsis as project supervisor and De Haryor Global Services as service provider to commence the metering projects in Army barracks at a cost of N12.7 billion, under the MDAs metering project.
“This predates the appointment of Adelabu as Minister of Power. In spite of this, the money was not released to the service provider that had already gone ahead to seek funds for the acquisition of smart meters,” Mr Tunji said.
Concerned about the over eight million meter gap in the country and the liquidity squeeze in the Nigeria Electricity Supply Industry (NESI), the minister wondered how money meant for a national project could be held up untouched for over 20 years by an individual.
“He, therefore, mounted pressure and escalated the matter to the presidency for the retrieval of the revolving fund from Messrs Ziklagsis plus accrued interest till date. This was duly approved by the President. Upon the President’s approval, N12.7 billion was, therefore, to be released in tranches to De Haryor Global Services to commence the installation of already procured smart meters.
“The minister should therefore be commended for his effort in ensuring the recovery of the revolving meter fund which had been untouchable for over 20 years, thus enabling the eventual take-off of the project,” the statement said.
Speaking further on the issue, Mr Tunji advised concerned stakeholders to seek clarifications on issues “before misleading members of the public.”
“It was stated that the service provider did not have any experience in that industry, this is however far from the truth as seen in the trajectory of the entire project. The minister was not privy to the arrangement between the army and the service provider. His job is not to intervene in operational issues but to provide an enabling environment through policies and guidelines.
“All he did in this case was to escalate and secure Presidential approval to facilitate the phased release of funds for the project to begin. In any case, De Haryor is not new in the industry. It had been an active operator in the industry. In March 2022, the company applied to the Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency (NEMSA) to certify its meter and a certificate was issued. Similarly, in 2022, De Haryor got another certificate attesting to the suitability of its meters.
“Not only that, there was a Federal Executive Council (FEC) approval during the administration of late President Umaru Musa Yar’adua and approval of successive administrations for this project while the revolving loan still has to be paid back through deductions from the sales of energy from the meters provided,” Mr Tunji said.
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The PowerUp Initiatives for Electricity Rights (PowerUp Nigeria) has urged the Federal Executive Council (FEC) to revive the award of a N12.7 billion meter installation contract to De Haryor Global Services Limited.
Adetayo Adegbemle, executive director of PowerUp Nigeria, made the call in a statement on Wednesday.
PowerUp Nigeria is an electricity consumer rights and policy advocacy organization.
The Nigerian government had earlier in the week announced the flag-off of a N40 billion mass metering project to end the era of estimated billings in the Nigerian Army formations nationwide.
Speaking during the flag-off of the metering exercise at the headquarters of the 9th Brigade of the Nigerian Army, Ikeja military cantonment at the weekend, the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, said the exercise would be in phases with the Ikeja cantonment being the first phase of the exercise.
He noted that the current exercise will last for six weeks before the second phase begins.
Mr Adelabu explained that for the current exercise, the sum of N12.7 billion has been released out of a total of N40 billion for the mass metering project.
Mr Adelabu who was received at the army headquarters by the Commander, A.M Adetuyi, and the Chief Executive Officer of De Haryor Global Services, Ashade Olatunbosun, who is in charge of the metering project said the current exercise is part of President Bola Tinubu’s renewed hope agenda to ensure regular supply of electricity to army formations, nationwide.
“This is one of Mr President’s objectives as contained in the renewed hope agenda to ensure that electricity supply to the armed forces is prioritised and they do not suffer especially in the enjoyment of public utilities,” he said.
Concerns
However, in its statement, Mr Adegbemle said before the announcement, the company, De Haryor Global Services Limited, is not known to have handled any installation of this magnitude.
“De Haryor Global Services Limited is not a registered meter manufacturing/assemblers company, neither is it on the list of manufacturers/assemblers at the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Trades.
“The company, De Haryor Global Services Limited, is not on the first schedule of Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) approved Meter Asset Providers (MAPs),” Mr Adegbemle said.
He said there’s no evidence of public tender/bid for the 40bn Naira worth of contract and neither is there any evidence of meeting the Procurement Act procedures.
“If anyone insists there’s a public tender, let them provide the names of other companies that bid for the installations. There’s no budgetary allocation for this project, neither in the Ministry of Power, nor the Ministry of Finance. A procurement of this magnitude requires FEC approval, no evidence this was sort, or granted,” he said.
Mr Adegbemle, therefore, urged that FEC should review and reverse this process and culprits should be investigated.
He said the Minister of Power should be immediately redeployed or replaced.
Minister Speaks
Reacting in a statement to PREMIUM TIMES Wednesday night, Bolaji Tunji, special adviser on strategic communication and media relations to the Minister of Power, dismissed concerns that due process was not followed in the mass metering project of military formations nationwide, which began last week.
He explained that the federal government had entered a tripartite agreement with Messrs Ziklagsis Network Limited and Unistar International in 2003 for the supply of three million meters to distribution companies (DISCOs) in the country, within three years.
“To kick start the project, a revolving metering loan of N32 billion was released to Messrs Ziklagsis. The agreement was not implemented while the fund remained in the bank account of Ziklagsis at the then Prudent Bank from where it moved to Skye Bank, Polaris and lately, Providus Bank.
“With the privatisation of distribution, the government proposed the metering of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) in order to accurately determine the consumption of these MDAs and also reduce accumulated debts. “ This was what led to the initiative to meter military formations nationwide”, the statement said.
Worried by its bludgeoning electricity debt, according to the statement, the Nigerian Army wrote a letter to the presidency requesting intervention to pay off the outstanding debt and the metering of their formations.
It said the federal government then directed the ministry to look into the army’s request and utilise the funds with Ziklagsis.
“It was then that Ziklagsis was introduced to the Nigerian army by the Ministry of Power. It was around this period that the Nigerian Army also introduced De Haryor Global Services to Ziklagsis to enable them to work together.
“In November 2022, discussion began on the project among the parties and an agreement was signed between the Nigerian Army as a client, Messrs Ziklagsis as project supervisor and De Haryor Global Services as service provider to commence the metering projects in Army barracks at a cost of N12.7 billion, under the MDAs metering project.
“This predates the appointment of Adelabu as Minister of Power. In spite of this, the money was not released to the service provider that had already gone ahead to seek funds for the acquisition of smart meters,” Mr Tunji said.
Concerned about the over eight million meter gap in the country and the liquidity squeeze in the Nigeria Electricity Supply Industry (NESI), the minister wondered how money meant for a national project could be held up untouched for over 20 years by an individual.
“He, therefore, mounted pressure and escalated the matter to the presidency for the retrieval of the revolving fund from Messrs Ziklagsis plus accrued interest till date. This was duly approved by the President. Upon the President’s approval, N12.7 billion was, therefore, to be released in tranches to De Haryor Global Services to commence the installation of already procured smart meters.
“The minister should therefore be commended for his effort in ensuring the recovery of the revolving meter fund which had been untouchable for over 20 years, thus enabling the eventual take-off of the project,” the statement said.
Speaking further on the issue, Mr Tunji advised concerned stakeholders to seek clarifications on issues “before misleading members of the public.”
“It was stated that the service provider did not have any experience in that industry, this is however far from the truth as seen in the trajectory of the entire project. The minister was not privy to the arrangement between the army and the service provider. His job is not to intervene in operational issues but to provide an enabling environment through policies and guidelines.
“All he did in this case was to escalate and secure Presidential approval to facilitate the phased release of funds for the project to begin. In any case, De Haryor is not new in the industry. It had been an active operator in the industry. In March 2022, the company applied to the Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency (NEMSA) to certify its meter and a certificate was issued. Similarly, in 2022, De Haryor got another certificate attesting to the suitability of its meters.
“Not only that, there was a Federal Executive Council (FEC) approval during the administration of late President Umaru Musa Yar’adua and approval of successive administrations for this project while the revolving loan still has to be paid back through deductions from the sales of energy from the meters provided,” Mr Tunji said.
Support PREMIUM TIMES’ journalism of integrity and credibility
Good journalism costs a lot of money. Yet only good journalism can ensure the possibility of a good society, an accountable democracy, and a transparent government.
For continued free access to the best investigative journalism in the country we ask you to consider making a modest support to this noble endeavour.
By contributing to PREMIUM TIMES, you are helping to sustain a journalism of relevance and ensuring it remains free and available to all.
Donate
TEXT AD: Call Willie – +2348098788999
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