Adelabu

Deliver Or Be Sanctioned, Minister Tells Heads Of Power Sector Agencies During Performance Signing Contract

The heads of agencies and parastatals under the Federal Ministry of Power on Wednesday signed performance contracts to ensure that they meet their targets and contribute to the sectorโ€™s overall goals.

Speaking at the meeting of the Ministerial Power Sector Working Group held in Abuja, the Minister of Power, Chief Adebayo Adelabu, said the move is aimed at enhancing performance and synergy within the sector.

Adelabu, who warned that sanctions would be imposed on any agency or director, who fails to meet expectations in the sector, also declared that reward for performance would be from top to bottom

He said, โ€œWe will not wait until the end of the year or end of the quarter before we start assessing ourselves. We need to get involved in the work on how you are progressing to achieve your final targets for the quarter. Just like the performance delivery is top-down, the reward will also be top-down on achievement.

โ€œThen, sanctions too, will be top-down. Depending on the sanctions that the President is going to mete out to a non-performing minister and a non-performing council, we will determine the sanctions that will be met out to everybody involved here.

โ€œThen covering the entire board is that it is a performance, monitoring, and evaluation platform because we all have targets to achieve at the end of the year. We will not wait until the end of the year or the end of the quarter before we start assessing ourselves.

โ€œWe need to get involved in the works on how you are progressing to achieve your final targets for the quarter in your presentation, how much have you achieved, and what you set out for the year.

โ€œSo what we are doing now at the end of the meeting is to ensure that we sign a performance bond or a performance contract that will compel every one of us to deliver on our targets.

โ€œIf you remember that sometime in November 2023, as the Minister of Power and as the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Power, we both signed a performance contract with Mr President that summarized on a high level what Mr President expects of us as Minister and Permanent Secretary on the ministry we should extend on, which also includes all the agencies that work with the ministry.

โ€œWe signed that high-level performance contract. Now, we have cascaded that performance agreement down into the various relevant ministerial departments and agencies that will contribute to the overall achievement of what we signed with the President.โ€

The minister said the purpose of the performance contract is to ensure that targets are set for each agency heads, noting that the president will determine the sanctions to be given to those who do not perform.

He added, โ€œAs you know itโ€™s a top-down approach while itโ€™s also a bottom-up approach. Every Department in the ministry and every agency that we have has one or two roles to play in the achievement of the overall targets. So, thatโ€™s what we are signing today with the President, who represents the ministry, with CEOs of agencies who represent each of the agencies.

โ€œThe part that is relevant to them, for example, the power sector, is a coordinated sector. And we believe that a chain is as strong as its weakest link. So, we donโ€™t want any of our ministerial departments or agencies to drop the ball. We must be focused.

โ€œWhen it comes to energy generation, we have the energy resources in the ministry. We have the energy DHC at the agency level that has targets for a generation. When we talk about transmission, we have the Transmission Management Department, Department of TSD, at the ministry level.

โ€œAnd we have the Transmission Company of Nigeria, TCN, that has targets for transmission. When it comes to regulation, we have NERC.

โ€œWhen it comes to renewable energy and energy transition, we have the Renewable and Rural Access Department at the ministry.

โ€œWe have the Renewable Energy, Renewable Rural Energy Protection Agency at the agency level. And they have targets to achieve. Which is why I said, all the ministry departments, all the agencies, are contributory to the overall targets of the ministry of powerโ€.