Why NDE, NEMSA may be scrapped – Reps

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The Ad hoc committee of the House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee investigating overlapping functions of government agencies on Thursday said that the National Directorate of Employment (NDE), and the National Electricity Management Agency (NEMSA) are not living up to their mandates.

The committee  blamed NDE for not providing employment to teeming unempled Nigerians, and NEMSA on what it termed weak metering system by electricity distribution companies in the power sector.

The  Committee also demanded a five year performance assessment report from the NDE for it to justify its existence in line with the mandate of the probe panel.

Chairman of the Committee, Hon.Victor Mela, gave the ruling at an investigative hearing where NEMSA, NDE NELMC and  NAPTI were invited and grilled.

At the hearing Managing Director of NEMSA Engr.Aliyu Tukur said that the agency was established in 2015 by federal government to ensure that there is reliable electricity supply in the nation’s power industry.

He also said that the agency is mandated by laws to ensure that materials used in the industry are of confirmed technical specifications adding that there agency is in-charge of quality metering.

However, some Committee members as Hon Adedeji Olajide and  Hon.Zacharia Yanpan expressed displeasure over their overall performance in the electricity industry, arguing that the agency has overlapping mandate with the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), and lamented that government is facing huge challenge in the funding of the agencies.

Director-General NDE, Mr Abubakar Nuhu, said that the agency is mandated by law to provide employment to unempled Nigerians and vulnerable persons residing in Nigeria, adding that the agency have presence
in all the states of the federation and local council areas and had been providing employment and skills for unempled Nigerians in line with the mandate.

But the Committee Chairman said that there is massive unemployment and the agency had not really lived up to the responsibility, before the demand for five year assessment report was asked for.

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