FEMI ADEOTI COLUMN,
Ebullient Adebayo Adekola Adelabu! He’s certainly one minister chewing far more than he can possibly swallow. You would honestly wonder why. It baffles our imagination.
We are at a great loss. What propels him as Minister of Power? We are still in the dark. He’s one of those fostering government’s policy summersaults.
In fact, he is in the forefront. What drives him? Quite unfortunate and sad. It ought not to be Adelabu. He is grandson of the stormy petrel of Ibadan politics, Gbadamosi Adegoke Adelabu, aka Penkelemesi.
In the past one week, he has had his fair share of strange publicity. He has done more damage to himself than good. He voluntarily threw himself off balance. The speed at which he swallowed his vomit! It was alarming and amazing.
And he did both in the public glare. He did not care a hoot. Even to our bewilderment. We were flabbergasted, catapulted off guard.
It was self-denial of a unique sort. He wisely didn’t wait to be denied. He swiftly denied himself the third day. What Adelabu did might appear simple to some.
He toyed with policy summersault and got his fingers badly burnt. But with hands still intact, he reversed himself. Almost in the same manner. He threw himself into it in the first instance.
That Thursday, in Abuja, Adebayo threw us a bomb: “It appears state governments and other stakeholders have no clear idea yet of what it takes to operate an electricity market.”
He was sure, he was convinced: “I have a feeling that we don’t have a comprehensive understanding of what this autonomy means.”
He dared them. He unilaterally stopped the issuance of electricity regulatory autonomy to states. He ignorantly claimed he was acting on the Federal Government’s script.
It was an unexpected blow on the governors. Delivered far, far below the belt. It bruised their ego.
The Federal Government had earlier toed the line. It complied with the Electricity Act, 2023. By so doing, transferred regulatory oversight of the electricity market in Ondo, Ekiti and Enugu states from the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC). And gave such to the state electricity regulatory bureaux.
Adelabu indiscreetly ignored the Act to his peril. He “sincerely” felt it was not tidy enough: “Adequate understanding of the transfer of regulatory oversight of the electricity market to states is crucial for the survival and sustainability of the nation’s power sector.”
He spoke at the Africa Energy Market Place (AEMP) conference. The stakeholders in the sector were upbeat. They stood to be counted. They resolved. This particular minister shouldn’t be spared. He must not be obliged to the luxury of escape. He must be nailed. And he was!
President, Nigeria Consumer Protection Network (NCPN), Kunle Kola Olubiyo, became agitated. He was furious: “This is a total breach of the legislation. The Electricity Act, 2023, is an Act of Parliament, which clearly transfers regulatory functions to states.”
He enlightened Adelabu since he feigned not to know: “The power sector has been constitutionally moved from the exclusive list to the concurrent list. Anything beyond seeking legislative amendment is tantamount to constitutional breach.”
Adetayo Adegbemle is another stakeholder and convener of PowerUp Nigeria. He wouldn’t tolerate Adelabu. His utterance was unbecoming of a minister.it was more than was nauseating. And he told him in clear terms:
“The minister’s power resides on policy direction as enshrined in the Act, but not to arrogate to himself the powers of misrepresentation or acting in violation of an existing law.”
Adelabu was effectively cut to size. Olubiyo and Adegbemle made a mess of his outburst. The message was not lost on him. He desperateb to douse the storm. He was lucky he had a second chance. And acted so quickly too.
A Lagos NERC workshop provided that window. It was a rare leeway. He would not waste. He grabbed it to right his glaring wrong.
There and then. He regretted every word he pronounced three days earlier with fanfare. This time around, he poured out profusely. It was like never before:
“Granting of regulatory autonomy to states is a provision of the new Act and no one person can single-handedly go against the Act.
“It’s a provision of the law and no law-abiding officer of the state will want to go against the law. It is already included and it must be duly respected.”
He was wiser. He made it sagaciously brief. No preamble. He strictly kept to his lane. And that helped him a great deal. It was his clear admittance of horrible power summersault.
He, however, insisted: “There is the need to address the potential challenges that may occur during the transitioning period.”
We sincerely need to know. Minister Tinubu, what exactly is on your mind? Every utterance of yours these days leads us into more confusion. We’re afraid. We can’t genuinely take you for your word.
Our leaders need a deeper rethink. Public officers ought to walk their talk. Not to talk their walk. Be long on action and short on words. Be guided and guarded at all times.
We should be able to hold you accountable in all ramifications. Stop speaking off-hand. It has not paid off for us. Pronouncement on fuel subsidy removal is an eternal reminder.
Don’t take us for a rude and rough ride. Put a huge stop to these recurring policy summersaults and outright, careless reversals. It’s a sordid act of unending recklessness in government.
Policy summersault started dotting this government from its first day. It has festered this passing year. The President himself set the ball rolling. And it has never been the same again.
We have had enough of these reversals and outright policy cancellation. It has been a year of trial and error, of fumbling and tumbling all the way.
You are not doing anyone any good. Not even remotely. If you’re not embarrassed, we are!
FEEDBACK
We’re overtaxed, but…
I agree we are overtaxed in Nigeria. But some taxes are inevitable in a country where citizens scrupulously avoid taxes.
I would want to draw the attention of both the federal and state governments to the taxation of retirees (senior citizens). In almost every country of the world, retirees are tax-exempt. They don’t pay such things as ground rent (for the property they reside in).
Many of the levies imposed by government should also exempt them. I think the cyber security levy was withdrawn for this, among other political reasons.
The technicality of identifying retirees and applying the exemption was beyond government, even though the provision for exempting retirees was in the law. Retirees are unfairly treated in this country.
The media do nothing beyond pictorial reports of those dying at protests against delays in payment of pensions. While this is very important, there is an urgent need for the media to address how retirees fare under government’s fiscal and monetary policies.
For instance, a retiree who took a mortgage at 12 per cent interest rate (while in service) is now saddled with 34 per cent interest in retirement. Why would he not die of a heart attack?
– Wole Agunbiade, Lagos, 08034023937
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