CEM REPORT, GOVERNANCE | The National Directorate of Employment (NDE) and the National Electricity Management Agency (NEMSA) have come under fire by the House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee investigating Overlapping Functions of Government Agencies.
The lawmakers said while the NDE has not lived up to their mandate of providing employment to teeming unemployed Nigerians, the functions of the NEMSA overlap with the functions of the Standard Organisation of Nigeria.
This was revealed at an investigative hearing where NEMSA, NDE NELMC and NAPTI were invited by the Committee.
The Managing Director of NEMSA Engr. Aliyu Tukur during the hearing said the agency was established in 2015, by the federal government to ensure that there was reliable electricity supply in the nation’s power industry.
Tukur added that the agency was mandated by law 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 noted that there was weak metering system by electricity distribution companies in the power sector, argued that the agency has an overlapping mandate with the Standard Organisation of Nigeria and lamented that government was facing a huge challenge in funding them.
Olajide on the other hand 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 during his session said that the agency was mandated by law to provide employment to unemployed Nigerians and vulnerable persons residing in Nigeria.
“The agency has a 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.”
But Hon. Victor 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.
The Chairman of the House Committee, Hon. Victor Mela while ruling at an investigative hearing stated that the House Committee was inaugurated by the 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 a need to merge some of the agencies.
