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EPSR Act says Momoh exits at 70 yrs
The Senate President, Dr Ahmad Lawan, on Tuesday, read a letter from President Muhammadu Buhari seeking the confirmation of the nomination of Engr. Sanusi Garba as chairman of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).
Engr. Garba is presently the Vice Chairman of NERC, the sole regulator of the Nigerian power sector.
According to a Twitter post by the Senate, the letter also sought the confirmation of Musiliu Olalekan Oseni as the vice chairman of the commission, and Aisha Mahmud as the commissioner.
Mr Oseni is presently the commissioner in charge of Planning, Research and Strategy at the NERC.
The current crop of commissioners was nominated by President Buhari in July 2016 but the Senate did not confirm them until January 2017.
Until the substantive Chairman, Prof. James Adeche Momoh was appointed on May 3, 2018, to join the team, Engr. Garba was the acting chairman of NERC from January 2017.
The NERC board consists of seven commissioners from the six geopolitical zones with one serving as chairman.
Daily Trust gathered that the change in leadership follows the expected retirement of Prof. Momoh, the chairman as he clocks 70 years next month, and would retire according to the Electric Power Sector Reform Act (EPSRA) 2005.
Momoh who was born on November 26, 1950, was appointed to head the Commission from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the United States.
Momoh who had served for slightly two years may earn over N100 million as severance package and other benefits which the former commissioners had set precedence.
An industry source said Momoh should not have been pushed out as the retirement is not binding on him.
“He is not a civil servant, he was appointed and should be allowed to end his five year tenure of which he was delayed by nearly one year.”
Efforts to get Momoh to speak on this proved abortive as he said, he was attending to a call on another line and would respond. He also did not respond to a text message on this.
However, Daily Trust had exclusively quoted him in June 2019, insisting that the retirement age was not binding on him.
“There is no such thing. I have a five year appointment and I was delayed for one year. I have a legal appointment which I lost a year and all that time, that I had no income from,” Momoh had told Daily Trust in June 2019.
To sustain the seven-member team, our reporter learnt that Aisha Mahmud, the Assistant General Manager, Tariff and Rates at NERC was nominated as a commissioner, and may take up the position Oseni was leaving – Planning, Research and Strategy.
