In less than four weeks, the inglorious tenure of Dr. Marilyn Amobi as MD/CEO of Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading (NBET) Plc will come to an end. Her tenure has been marred with allegations, counter-allegations, and indictments on corruption, executive high-handedness and insubordination by EFCC, ICPC, BPP and the Auditor General of the Federation.
Our sources have revealed an attempt by the ousted MD/CEO to pay over half a billion naira as terminal benefit and welfare packages from taxpayers’ money. It was gathered that last week Dr. Amobi approved for herself the sum of N15 million as flight ticket to USA and per-diem ahead of the end of her tenure. Amobi has been called out for kleptocracy and mismanagement of public funds in several publications and litigations as she currently has five staff and ten media houses' cases being funded from taxpayers’ money.
In addition to a vacation allowance, it is alleged that Amobi is in the process of paying herself terminal benefits in violation of Public Service Rules and Financial Standards. How is it possible that a sitting public official can unilaterally determine her compensation and terminal benefits without recourse to the National Salaries Incomes and Wages Commission (NSIWC)? Recall, that in 2018 the controversial MD/CEO approved the sum of N77 million naira upfront as six years furniture and rent grants when she actually had two years and seven months remaining of her tenure; she is yet to return the balance to the NBET coffers. Amobi is known to have a penchant for controversy and misuse of taxpayers’ funds, however she may be going too far this time as the severance package shall be borne by electricity consumers without equivalent service. Her actions clearly demonstrates the level of impunity in which she has steered the affairs of the government agency (NBET), thus leaving it in ruins and tatters for the incoming MD/CEO to salvage. Knowing full well that she is on a downward spiral, Amobi has sought almost fruitlessly to manipulate the recently inaugurated NBET Board of Directors to further endorse her lawlessness and abuse of office. She is on a mission to drag anyone and everyone down the abyss with her.
On 15th June 2020, the Minister of Power, Mr. Saleh Mamman, had instructed Amobi to proceed on terminal/outstanding leave with immediate effect, and ordered the assumption of Dr. Nnaemeka Ewelukwa as the substantive MD/CEO of NBET. This instruction was however twisted in the most shocking and embarrassing way to allow Dr. Amobi sit tight as MD/CEO till 24th July 2020 by the Ministry of Finance. This latter instruction by the Ministry of Finance has created a leverage for Amobi to empty the treasury before her exist. Amobi who had unilaterally withheld the salaries of two whistleblowers (Messrs. Waziri Bintube and Sambo Abdullahi) that uncovered and blew open her corrupt practices for the past three years, is now jittery over the prospect of facing prosecution by the anti-graft agencies. Amobi also declined the approval by the former Minister of Power, Works, & Housing, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola SAN, to process the terminal benefits of Mr. Rumundaka Wonodi, the pioneer MD/CEO of NBET. In a move to enrich herself, Madam Amobi has now resurrected the erstwhile declined memo for Mr. Wonodi which was approved by Fashola in 2018 as justification to pay herself about five hundred million naira as her severance package.
It was alleged that Amobi continues to boast that she controls the affairs of the current NBET Board of Directors, and can approve any sums of money for herself and cronies who have been hired and placed to do her bidding. In fact, we learnt that the sum of N7.9 million each has been allocated for three staff as gratis for assisting her fraudulent activities, in violation of every known policy, procedure and financial standards known to NBET. She was heard to be justifying her actions that the staff carried out functions in acting capacity thus deserves to receive gratis from her. Amobi continues to insist that her actions are not bound by Public Service Rules and she has the right to approve any monies within NBET coffers.
Amobi had changed the organogram of NBET more than five times without recourse to the Board of Directors nor supervising ministry, to create fictitious roles that are irrelevant to NBET mandate and give her lee way for misappropriating public funds. It will be recalled that the House Committee on Power has declared the NBET organogram illegal and grossly deficient, serving only the personal agenda of Amobi to siphon public funds. She boasted she would expend N2billion within four weeks when the House Committee on Power visited the agency sometime in February 2020, and the N2billion has indeed vanished without commensurate improvement in electricity generation.
Others penciled to benefit from the last minute gratis of the outgoing MD/CEO are non-NBET staff on secondment to the organization from the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation.
Not only is Amobi on a mission to empty the treasury of the organization just mid-way into the 2020 financial year, it was also gathered that she had sought to use the recently inaugurated NBET Board of Directors as a rubber stamp for her atrocities ahead of her exit. You may recall that since the Buhari Administration, and within the four year tenure of Amobi, there was never a Board meeting until the announcement of her sack and the appointment of a substantive MD/CEO for NBET in the person of Dr. Nnaemeka Ewelukwa. Interestingly, a seemingly non-existent Board that had continued to enable her atrocities in office, suddenly woke up to its responsibilities to hold two sessions on the 20th and 22nd June 2020 respectively, where Amobi failed to show any known achievement or growth for NBET. Our sources disclosed that there is an ongoing move by the Board to effect recruitments and secondments into the NBET Management team before 24th July 2020 on the order of Amobi. A member of the civil society group at the forefront of monitoring developments at NBET disclosed that the actions and decisions of the NBET Board is being watched keenly to identify and escalate any hoax that may come out from these last minutes meetings.
The onus is on the NBET Board of Directors and its appointed MD/CEO, Dr. Ewelukwa, to stay action on any request put forward by Amobi from now till her exit on 24th July 2020. Her last minute abracadabra to loot the treasury and create administrative confusion such as restricting staff entry into the office for the past one week must be met with tough resistance and diffused completely.
It is important to note that Amobi is at the centre of a National Assembly Investigation that may lead to her eventual incarceration if found guilty of charges brought before the House Committee on Power as such payment of any terminal or welfare package should be placed on hold pending the determination of petitions by the House Committee on Power. Amobi has become an albatross to the once revered Electricity Bulk Trader and a colossal liability to the Buhari Administration. It is no wonder that the Minister of Finance, Dr. Zainab Ahmed, has been advised to withdraw her support and distance herself from the parasitic MD/CEO and avoid being tainted or seen as pro-corruption. Now is the time for Dr. Amobi to hands-off all financial and operational matters at NBET, and proceed on terminal/outstanding leave immediately.
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