EXCLUSIVE: Disquiet in NDPHC over Alleged Illegal Retirement of General Managers on Level 16

EXCLUSIVE: Disquiet in NDPHC over Alleged Illegal Retirement of General Managers on Level 16

There is an uneasy calm at the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) over the alleged fraudulent and immediate promotion of four General Managers on level 16 to the level of Directors on level 17 in order to force them out of office in line with a recent circular from the office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation that Directors who have spent eight years or more in the position should retire.

It would be recalled that in the circular (Ref: HCSF/SPSO/268/T3/2/37) dated July 27, 2023, the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Dr. Folashade Yemi-Esan, had directed Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to ensure compliance with the revised Public Service Rules (PSR) which was unveiled the previous week.

The directive which was on the revised PSR 020909 stated that: “A director or its equivalent by whatever nomenclature it is described in MDAs shall compulsorily retire upon serving eight years on the post.”

Economic Confidential however gathered that the management of the NDPHC – a company which according to our findings is jointly owned by the federal government, 36 states and 774 local government areas and which may not qualify to be called an MDA – is trying to force some General Managers out of the company on the basis of the Head of Service circular.

According to an internal memorandum (Ref: NDPHC/NIPP/HR/2141/2023) dated 22nd of September of 2023, and exclusively obtained by Economic Confidential, the NDPHC directed all general managers of the company who have spent eight years in office to proceed on immediate retirement and handover to the most senior officer in their respective departments.

The internal memo signed by the General Manager, Human Resources, Mrs. O. Nwankwo, referenced a memo from the office of the Vice President which was dated 18th of September 2023 and which directed the NDPHC to comply with the new PSR if applicable.

Economic Confidential also in the course of its investigation saw the circular from the office of the Vice President which was referenced SH/OVP/DCOS/MSC.

In the circular signed by the Deputy Chief of Staff in the office of the Vice President, Senator Ibrahim Hassan Hadeija, eight organizations were listed and were asked to obey the revised PSR.

In the order of how they were listed in the document, the organizations include National Emergency Management Authority (NEMA), Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC), National Hajj Commission (NAHCON), National Boundary Commission (NBC), Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), Border Communities Development Agency (BCDA), National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) and Debt Management Office (DMO).

The four general managers who are affected by the NDPHC memo include Mrs Maryam D. Mohammed, FCA (Audit & Compliance), Mohammed Bunza (Procurement), Emmanuel Ojo Awo (Finance and Accounts), and Barrister Oladejo Odunuga (Legal).

According to a credible source in the company, the quartet are resisting the move and they are accusing the Managing Director of the company, Mr. Chiedu Ugbo, and the Executive Director of Corporate Affairs, Mrs Nkechiyelu Mba, of seeking to force them out of office for selfish reasons and not because the revised PSR is applicable to them.

Sources in the company said there was drama in the office when the circular was released last Friday and the management tried to forcefully eject the four officers. Other staff members and security details however resisted the move, saying due process had not been followed since the Board – which is chaired by the Vice President – had not been informed and the four senior officers had yet to properly hand over.

Our correspondent gathered further that Mrs Mba had to call in officers from the Department of State Services (DSS) to make sure they quartet are not allowed to access their respective offices henceforth.

The four senior officers are resisting the retirement on the basis of two arguments, one of which is the fact that they are not yet on level 17 and their positions are not equivalent to the level of Director in the Federal Civil Service. Therefore, the revised PSR should not apply to them.

But the fourth and last paragraph of the internal memo issued by the NDPHC management on Friday, had read in part: “For the avoidable of doubt, please find attached NDPHC’s job grading alignment with the Public/Civil Service.”

According to the document made available to Economic Confidential, the position of General Manager in the company has been equated this month to Level 17 which is equivalent to a Director in the mainstream public/civil service. The document was not however dated and so our investigators could not ascertain the date the alignment was done and whether it was hurriedly put together to achieve a predetermined objective.

The document also looks terse and our investigators could not ascertain if it was approved by the Board of the company or not. The document also left out the positions of the MD and that of Executive Directors for reasons we couldn’t trace at the time of filing this story.

Economic Confidential however stumbled on a document that showed the management organogram of the company and what our investigators found was that the MD was listed as a Level 18 officer in the same rank as a Permanent Secretary while two Executive Directors were listed as Level 17 officers which is equivalent to Director in the mainstream public/civil servant. The eight General Managers listed in the document (including the ones who have been asked to proceed on retirement) were listed on level 16 which meant they are Deputy Directors and cannot be affected by the revised PSR that the NDPHC is trying to implement.

The second point on the basis of which the four senior officers are resisting their sudden retirement is the fact that the revised PSR or any of such rules is not supposed to apply to the NDPHC because its status as an MDA is in dispute.

Economic Confidential findings revealed that, unlike MDAs which are products of decrees, acts or laws made by the National Assembly, the NDPHC was created as a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) by the three tiers of government and incorporated under the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA), 1990, as a private company limited by shares and registered by the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC). While the federal government owns 47 percent of the shares, states and LGAS own 53 percent.

Our checks on the employment and promotion history of the company also revealed that they have not always followed the modus operandi approved by the PSR, but the internal policy set by the Human Resource Department of the NDPHC.

Economic Confidential findings revealed that if the revised PSR was to be applied at all, it would have applied to the Executive Directors and not the General Managers since the management organogram cited above puts the former on level 17 (Director) and the latter on Level 16 (Deputy Director).

All efforts to speak with the MD, Mr Ugbo, proved abortive as he didn’t answer repeated calls made to his mobile phone lines. He didn’t also pick or return repeated WhatsApp calls to hear the management side of the story.

By PRNigeria