EFCC’s probe: NBET MD implicates Perm Sec

She said the Permanent Secretary wanted her  to pay N248million to a consulting firm, in which her sister has interest, to facilitate the conclusion of Bond and Promissory Notes for the agency. She also said the Permanent Secretary has been trying to force her to resign based on the alleged instructions of the Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo. But she said she told the affected Permanent Secretary that she would not be bullied to quit office unless directed by the presidency. Amobi, who made the submissions in an Executive Summary sent to the presidency, asked the Acting President to urgently constitute the board of NBET. The Federal Executive had early in the year approved a Power Sector Recovery Plan to look for an alternative all-inclusive strategy for addressing the liquidity crisis facing the power Generating Companies( GENCOS) in the country. The recovery plan was designed to avert the total collapse of the electricity sector because many Distribution Companies ( DISCOS) have not been able to meet their financial obligations to GENCOS. Some of the liquidity sources being considered are getting a consulting firm to secure Bond and Promissory Notes; approval by the Federal Government and the Central Bank of Nigeria ( CBN) for a loan of N701billion under a “payment assurance programme; and an utilized $350million loan which has been hidden in an account. But the NBET boss said the affected Permanent Secretary has preference for “Power Sector Bond/ Promissory Note” through a consulting firm because of personal interest. She said the Permanent Secretary wanted her to pay N248million to the consulting firm to facilitate the conclusion of Bond and Promissory Notes for the electricity sector. She said it was difficult to comply with the directive of the Permanent Secretary because it was an unjustifiable  payment. The Executive Summary reads in part: “ I came under pressure yet again to do the following:

1. Reconnect with the consulting firm to steer forward the conclusion of the Bond and Promissory Notes products for the electricity sector; and
2. To pay a sum of N39M or N2248M to MT Consulting, as outstanding consultancy fees for what I consider as an unjustifiable payment for the work that they had done before I joined the organisation, that involved the development of the abandoned financial product.

“When I protested to the PS about this, he engaged me by email on an allegation that the NASS was investigating a petition on a consultancy work NBET gave to an Engineer, which in his allegation was the same as the work the consulting firm had done. It is to be noted that the NASS confirmed to me a few days thereafter that they did not receive any petition as the PS had alluded. “At the kick off meeting that I had with the Permanent Secretary on the 19th of August  2016, I reiterated some of the concerns that I had with the Bond issuance to him. “ And he assured me that he understood my concerns, would support me to review the work NBET had already done on the product and make what I consider would be the best decision in the circumstance. “He did not tell me that he had an interest in the initiative and was the lead consultant and the face of the consulting company at the conceptualisation stages or that his sister is the MD / CEO the company. I learned that at the interrogatory session that the House Committee on Power conducted a few days after I resumed work as the MD / CEO at NBET. “However, the relevance of my concerns regarding the integrity of these matters soon disappeared after the National Assembly (NASS) launched an investigation into the matter in September 2016; and ruled that there was an “attempted fraud” at NBET. “Furthermore, they ordered that the Procurement Department that was previously under the Human Resources Department, be placed under the Office of the MD / CEO and that I penalised the staff who were culpable for the attempted fraud.” ]]>