Nigeria removes bulk electricity trading boss

The Federal Government on Monday removed the pioneer Managing Director/Chief Executive of the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc (NBET), Rumundaka Wonodi.

PREMIUM TIMES learnt that Mr. Wonodi, who was alleged to have over-stayed his tenure, broke the news of his removal to staff of the company at the end of a meeting with the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Power, Louis Edozien, on Monday.

When contacted on Tuesday Mr. Wonodi confirmed the development, saying he had since handed over to the next most senior official of the agency.

“Yes, there is a communication by the government that my tenure had ended and that I should hand over to the next most senior official of the commission. I have since handed over to the next ranking General Manager in charge of Finance, Waziri Bintube,” Mr. Wonodi said on telephone on Tuesday.

Mr. Bintube, the acting MD/CEO, would be reporting to the Director, Finance & Accounts, Federal Minister of Power.

Mr. Wonodi, who was appointed to the office in August 2011, was alleged to have over-stayed his tenure.

But, last January, following the dissolution of Boards of Federal agencies and parastatals, Mr. Wonodi had claimed that he was not aware of any specific tenure for his office, as the agency was not a public agency, but a Public Liability Company (PLC).

Prior to his appointment, he had led the Regulatory & Transactions Monitoring team of the Presidential Task Force on Power (PTFP), mandated to drive the federal government power sector reform road map.

Besides, he had led the team of Bureau of Public Enterprises and the Presidential Task Force on Power experts to establish the Bulk Trader charged with the responsibility of executing vesting contracts with the 11 privatized Power Holding Company of Nigeria successor distribution companies for the onward sale of purchased electricity.

NBET is a wholly-owned Federal Government company incorporated on July 29, 2010 as scheduled in the Electric Power Sector Reform Act (EPSRA) 2005.

The company serves as the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) for buying electricity in bulk from power generation companies (GENCOS) for resale to the distribution companies (DISCOS), in addition to other ancillary services for the GENCOS.

Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc (NBET) aka the Bulk Trader, company incorporated on July 29 2010 as part of President Goodluck Jonathan’s roadmap for Power sector reform towards the full implementation of the Electric Power Sector Reform Act (EPSRA).