The Federal Government has sacked the Managing Director/CEO of the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc (NBET), Dr. Marilyn Amobi.
This was announced in a statement issued by Aaron Artimas, the spokesman of the Minister of Power, who posted on the ministry’s Twitter handle. The minister had said that the sack was in continuation of the re-organisation and sanitation in the ministry.
Reasons explained: According to the statement released, the Minister of Power was investigating the MD/CEO of NBET over complaints issued against her over time.
“In view of this, the minister has also directed the Constitution of a 5-man investigative committee to look into the myriads of complaints against the MD/CEO (of NBET) with the view of restoring sanity in the management of the company. Consequently, she is to handover to the most senior director in the organisation.”
[READ MORE: HSBC to sack 10,000 more staff globally)
What you should know: Amobi started the role of NBET’s MD/CEO in August 2016 and is the second head of the firm after the pioneer head, Mr. Rumundaka Wonodi, left after spending over five years. Last month, Amobi was involved in a “padding” scandal at NBET over questionable budgetary allocations software and rent, among others.
Daily Trust reported that when asked to respond, Amobi’s corporate communication office said there was approval for the projects, one of which is software procured for nearly N1 billion.
The sacked MD had many troubles, as she was enmeshed in several scandals and allegations of corruption, resulting in the House of Representatives instituting a probe into her activities. Also, the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) indicted her for alleged violation of the Public Procurement Act.
About NBET: NBET was incorporated on July 29, 2010 and serves as a special purpose vehicle to buy electricity from the Generation Companies (GenCos) through the Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) and sell to the Distribution Companies (DisCos) through vesting contracts.
It is completely under the power sector with a license from the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) to operate. However, due its financial intervention role, the Chairperson of the board has remained the Minister of Finance.
