A major labour crisis is unfolding
at the Abuja Electricity
Distribution Company over an
alleged fraudulent allocation of
outrageous salaries and perks to a
few officials.
While a privileged few draw as
high as N36 million a month from
the public liability company that is
operating on deficit, majority of
equally qualified and even more
critical staff absorbed from the
previous government-owned
Power Holding Company of
Nigeria, PHCN, receive peanut,
PREMIUM TIMES has found.
After the privatisation of PHCN,
the Nigerian government retained
substantial stake in the
distribution companies, including
the Abuja DISCO.
This means the government is
entitled to part of the profit. But
this must happen only after
operation cost of the company,
comprising of overhead and
personnel cost, are deducted.
For the past two years, the
company recorded only losses
instead, but at the same time paid
outrageous salaries to a select
few.
The chairperson of the board
takes home N36 million a month,
while a staff with Ordinary
National Diploma, OND, takes
home as high as N1.9 million
monthly.
While this select few rip the firm
off, majority of the key staff
retained from PHCN are paid
between N50, 000 to N150, 000.
According to the company’s
financial statement prepared by
KPMG as at December 31, 2014,
the Abuja Electricity Distribution
Company’s revenue increased
from N36.01 billion in 2013 to
N48.1 billion.
Yet, the company declared a
higher loss of N25.61 billion in
2014, up from N13.37 billion in
2013.
Notwithstanding the loss, the company’s
administrative expenditure nearly doubled –
from N13.67 billion in 2013 to N24.93 billion
in 2014.
The board chairman, Siyanga Malumo, who
received N5.67 million as salary monthly in
2013, had his pay reviewed by over 640.7
percent, to N36.33million, according to the
report obtained by PREMIUM TIMES.
Six directors who received between
N3.5million and N4million a month in 2013
also got a raise to between N145 million and
N150 million annual pay.
Within the year, N719.7million was also spent
on “salaries and other short-term benefits to
key management personnel compensation”.
Whiff of fraud
After the privatization of PHCN, about 3,601
former workers of the defunct company were
re-engaged on November 1, 2013, by the new
firm. The workers were retained mostly as
casual staff.
The Abuja distribution company recruited
another set of employees in 2014, either as
permanent or contract staff.
Although the company’s approved salary
structure obtained by PREMIUM TIMES
ranged between N47, 186.80 for the least paid
staff on grade level JS1 step 1, and
N1.137.069.17 for the highest paid official on
grade level EG1, some categories of staff
received far ahead of those allocations.
The payroll reflects a huge disparity in favour
of the new employees.
Although most of the new employees lack
technical competence and practical
experience, they were made to pocket between
N1.2 million and N1.9 million per month,
PREMIUM TIMES found.
Their colleagues from PHCN receive between
N50, 000 and N200, 000 per month,
irrespective of qualification and experience.
Only a few of the older workers earn N200,
000 and above.
The huge disparity in salary between the
different categories of workers is fuelling
discontent in the company.
Public or private firm?
Abuja Electricity Distribution Company is one
of the 11 successor power distribution
companies (DISCOs) of PHCN.
It was created to undertake electricity
distribution activities and related business in
Niger, Kogi and Nasarawa states and the
Federal Capital Territory.
The company is owned 60 percent by KANN
Utility Company Limited, a joint venture
between Xerxes Global Investment Ltd, CEC
Africa Investment Ltd and Abuja Electricity
Distribution Plc.
The Nigerian Government still controls 40
percent of the company through the Bureau of
Public Enterprises, which has 32 percent, and
the Ministry of Finance which owns eight
percent.
Prior to the power sector privatization
exercise, BPE had disengaged over 4,000
former PHCN employees on October 31, 2013,
as part of the winding down process.
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory
Commission, the electricity sector regulatory
agency, said AEDC was later allowed to re-
engage about 3,601 of the workers for an
initial contract period of six months.
Details of the company’s financial statement
showed that at the completion of the re-
engagement process, 3,658 workers were on
the company’s payroll in 2013, consisting
Administration (845), Finance (399), Marketing
(1,116) and Technical (1,298).
The figure, however, fell to about 2,243 in
2014, with Administration having 320, Finance
(279), Marketing (859) and Technical (785).
At the expiration of the initial contract period
in 2014, NERC explained that each worker was
issued fresh re-engagement letters as
permanent or contract staff, in line with the
AEDC’s framework of employee remuneration
and public service rules.
There were yet a lot of others designated
casual workers.
“Apart from discriminatory salaries, the casual
workers are denied vacation and proper
medical attention, despite performing similar
jobs and exposed to same hazardous
conditions at work on a daily basis,” one of
the affected workers said. He did not wish to
be identified for fear of victimization.
Consulting house of fraud
Investigations by PREMIUM TIMES uncovered
monumental fraud in the company’s payroll
traceable to an agency, TBS Consulting, hired
to handle staff recruitment in 2014.
For instance, Yusuf Mosunmola, one of the
directors and a key member of the TBS
Consulting management team, doubles as
Head, Organisational Development & Learning
for AEDC.
As director of the consulting firm, Ms.
Mosunmola was in charge of the entire
recruitment process for all categories of
employees in AEDC.
The Executive Director, Corporate Planning &
Business Development, Omokhoa Okaisabor,
told PREMIUM TIMES that Ms. Mosunmola
was hired to help in resolving the human
resources issue the company had at inception.
After the privatisation exercise, AEDC was
confronted with human resources issues that
bordered on lack of proper training for staff
and a lot of skill gaps, he said.
Mr. Okaisabor said the company had resolved
that if no one was found within the company
to handle the human resource function, it
should be outsourced to a contracting firm, to
bring the required staff to manage the key HR
function on contract basis.
“That was how TBS Consulting was hired,
with Ms. Mosunmola as one of directors, to
recruit the staff on contract basis,” Mr.
Okaisabor explained.
A source close to AEDC headquarters said a
part of the about N285.5million in the 2014
financial statement spent as consultancy fees
for technical support services by KANN Utility
Company Limited was by TBS Consulting for
extensive services on IT, procurement,
integration, support and turnaround
strategies in 2013.
The director explained to PREMIUM TIMES
that all the contract staff recruited by TBS
Consulting for AEDC had “special
arrangements” with Ms. Mosunmola on how
the salary penned against their names would
be split.
“Not all the salary actually gets into their
(contract staff’s) pockets,” Mr. Okaisabor
explained. “The contracting firm has some
personal arrangement to get part of the
money paid to them as salaries by the
company. The practice is that the contracting
firm gets the money from the company and
pays the staff.”
“Most of the names found on the company’s
payroll are either non-existent or belong to
persons who work directly for Madam’s
(Mosunmola) other companies,” one of the
staff familiar with the issue said on Friday.
The staff said the special arrangement must
have been in connection with allegations that
at least 60 percent of the salaries credited to
most of the high earners on the company’s
payroll every month goes to Ms. Mosunmola,
who also has interests in other companies
providing various services for AEDC, like
cleaning.
While AEDC pays millions to Ms. Mosunmola’s
company for such services, she is said to be
paying peanuts to the workers and pocketing
the balance.
Some of the names on the AEDC payroll that
raised eyebrows were those of two contract
staff hired in 2014 and posted to the Lokoja
District office.
They include Akanku Olusegun, a National
Diploma holder in Electrical, and Higher
National Diploma (HND) (in view), who is
paid N823, 764 per month.
The same goes for Adesulu Adebayo, another
National Diploma holder in Electrical holder
in the same office, who takes home N764,
097.60 salary every month.
Curiously, several of their colleagues in
various district offices with either similar
qualifications or superior university degrees
of many years’ standing, are paid a paltry
N50, 000.
Ms. Mosunmola on her part remains one of
the highest paid officials, who pockets a
whopping N1.84 million pay every month.
This is in additional to the N27million and
another N10 million paid to her as furniture
allowance and accommodation respectively.
Also Ms. Mosunmola grapples with the
obvious challenge of conflict of interests as
she appears to work for AEDC and TBS
Consulting simultaneously.
“It’s a clear case of fraud inspired by greed,”
Alfred Ituah, an Abuja-based legal practitioner
told PREMIUM TIMES on Friday.
“It is practically impossible for her
(Mosunmola) to expect that she would
effectively joggle both jobs of recruiting
workers for AEDC and be on the company’s
staff payroll in whatever capacity without
getting entangled in the mess of conflict of
interest,” he noted.
ICPC wades in
In August, some top AEDC officials were
invited by the Independent Corrupt Practices
and Other Related Offences Commission for
questioning following a petition by some
aggrieved workers.
Those invited included the Managing Director;
Executive Director, Human Resources; Head
of Finance/Financial Controller and Principal
Manager in charge of Procurement.
The ICPC’s invitation letter had asked the
affected AEDC top officials to provide for
examination the statute/law/enabling Act
establishing the company; the company’s
nominal roll since 2013, and certificate of
compliance in recruitment process from the
Federal Character Commission.
The officials were also asked to furnish the
Commission with the company’s payroll for
June 2015; company policy; list of contracts
awarded from January 2013; statement of
Account; statement of salary accounts as well
as recruitment report detailing
advertisements, short listings, result sheets/
scores since 2013.
Spokesperson for ICPC, Rasheedat Okoduwa,
who confirmed to this reporter that the AEDC
top officials had honoured the invitation on
August 4, 2015, however did not give details,
saying she was not authorized to speak to the
media on the issue.
Mr. Okaisabor who also confirmed the
invitation of AEDC top officials by ICPC, said
all issues raised by the Commission were
resolved over two meetings, the last being in
September.
The tension in the company appears to have
worsened last week following another round
of recruitment interviews held for Regional
Managers, Area Managers, Billing Specialist
and Support Officers as well as Project
Managers.
The exercise was again handled by Ms.
Mosunmola on behalf of TBS Consulting
allegedly as part of plans by AEDC to
downsize its workforce.
Mr. Okaisabor described as unacceptable the
issue of conflict of interest concerning Ms.
Mosunmola roles in AWEDC and TBS
Consulting, saying if investigated and found to
be true, she would be queried and sanctioned.
“I will have to crosscheck that information.
But, it will be extremely careless and stupid of
them (TBS Consulting) to outsource somebody
to a company and the person is still on the
company’s management staff. If that is the
case, she has to be queried and sanctioned. It’s
unacceptable,” Mr. Okaisabor said.
Director General of BPE, Benjamin Dikki, who
is a member of the Board of AEDC,
representing the Federal Government, said in
a terse response to the reporter’s inquiry that
he was not aware of the activities of Mrs.
Mosunmola.
“I am not aware”, Mr. Dikki said in a text
message on Friday. He however asked for
time to investigate.
When the reporter contacted Ms. Mosunmola
on telephone on Friday to confirm her
connection with the two organisations, she
refused to comment, insisting on knowing
first what the information was for.
When told the reason, she immediately
terminated the call. Subsequent calls to her
phone were not answered. Equally, text
messages to her phones were also not
responded to.
However, in what a appeared an attempt to
cover her tracks, TBS Consulting on Monday,
October 12, edited its website and removed
Ms. Mosunmola from the list of its
management team.

Source: http://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/191578-investigation-abuja-electricity-boss-n36million-monthly-pay-others-tear-apart-firm.html

Lemme spread my mat here.
I know my guys are still coming in here to cry,but abeg try to control the noise.

similar to what happens in the International Oil companies operating in Nigeria.

you are an executive 36 mil a year and the coy is running losses! I am finding it hard to understand the connection between the two

36 what?

baralatie:
you are an executive 36 mil a year and the coy is running losses!
I am finding it hard to understand the connection between the two

36mill a month not year...we're looking at almost half a billion naira yearly to one person

BADNEAT:
36mill a month not year...we're looking at almost half a billion naira yearly to one person

whaaat!!!

Toto

A case of corporate irresponsibility and recklessness , regulators hav to start asking questions ,shareholders of this company must descend hard on the company's management . Ceos are rewarded purely based on their performance a company that is losing money cannot afford to pay its management such excessive wages at the detriment of other emplyees .this nonsense can only be tolerated in nigeria try this in an organised society and watch as activist investors will capitalize on this and buy this company ,sack the ceo and completely restructure the company .

realnas:
A case of corporate irresponsibility and recklessness , regulators hav to start asking questions ,shareholders of this company must descend hard on the company's management . Ceos are rewarded purely based on their performance a company that is losing money cannot afford to pay its management such excessive wages at the detriment of other emplyees .this nonsense can only be tolerated in nigeria try this in an organised society and watch as activist investors will capitalize on this and buy this company ,sack the ceo and completely restructure the company .

trust Yankee naa

Tnk God its nw decentralized.

The write up though investigative is poorly written.