NBET staff allege sacked MD destroying contract records

There is disquiet at the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Company as some concerned staff have raised the alarm over an alleged ongoing destruction of vital contract and financial records.

NBET is a critical agency of the Federal Ministry of Power.

The erstwhile Managing Director/CEO of the agency, Marilyn Amobi, was recently sacked by President Muhammadu Buhari.

But the staff, made up of senior and junior staff, had reportedly made submission to both Federal Ministries of Power and Finance, alleging that the outgoing MD was allegedly destroying records and awarding to her cronies huge sums as severance pay.

The staff alleged that enormous amount of public fund that is in excess of millions of naira is at the moment being frittered away in the name of unearned terminal benefits, sources at NBET have disclosed.

It is also being alleged that ousted Amobi has perfected plans to pay herself over N500 million as terminal benefit and welfare packages, a move which NBET officials described as a gross abuse of civil service rule.

They pointed out that Amobi recently approved the sum N15 million for herself as flight ticket cost to United States of America and per-diem ahead of her exit from office.

On her terminal benefit, Amobi is alleged to have bypassed the National Salaries Incomes and Wages Commission to award herself a humongous amount in violation of Public Service Rules and Financial Standard.

It will be recalled that the outgoing MD was earlier suspended in December 2019 by the Minister of Power, Saleh Mamman, for gross abuse of office.

In February 2019, media reports detailed how Amobi made controversial payments to law firms and other consultants.

Following similar pattern, Amobi, in the most controversial manner in 2018, approved the sum of N77 million upfront as six years furniture and rent grants when in fact she had less than three years to stay in office.

However, insiders noted that Amobi seems to be in a hurry to cook books at NBET and conceal the truth about her tenure going by her recent moves to restrict workers from coming to work.

In a recent memo, Amobi censored those allowed into office, allowing only her cronies to come to work in a desperate bid to concoct data and remove some files, the sources allege.

Meanwhile, there are palpable fears amid concerned staff of NBET that if she is not made to vacate the office immediately, she will succeed in her moves to destroy valuable NBET documents.