The House of Representatives Sub-Committee on the Protection of Critical National Assets has cleared the Managing Director of the Nigerian Electricity Liability Management Company (NELMCO), Mojoyinoluwa Dekalu-Thomas, of corrupt practices and abuse of office in the sale of assets worth N28.1 billion.

This was after a committee chaired by Mr. Dabo Ismail on Thursday considered a petition filed by a civil society group, the Association for Public Policy Analysis (APPA), regarding an alleged misappropriation of billions of naira by the authorities in NELMCO.

APPA, through its President, Princewill Okorie, also questioned the continued existence of NELMCO, twelve years after its privatisation.

Ismail, while ruling on the matter, stated that there is no shred of truth in the allegations of misappropriating proceeds from the sale of 65 assets by NELMCO so far.

According to the Bauchi lawmaker, NELMCO’s existence is justified by the provisions of the Nigerian Electricity Act, 2023, thereby dismissing the petitioner’s argument that the agency should have ceased operations in 2017 after the privatisation of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria.

“We asked NELMCO to provide us with documents backing their existence, and they did. Under the Nigerian Electricity Act 2023, NELMCO assumed responsibility for all the PHCN’s and successor companies’ assets and liabilities. So, this enabling law and the committee verified this law to be true and correct,” the committee chairman said.

In response to the allegation that NELMCO spent N94m on a five-day retreat in Lagos, the Managing Director of NELMCO, Mojoyinoluwa Dekalu-Thomas, stated that the agency is prepared to provide evidence of the expenditure incurred during the training.

She said, “The Director General of the Debt Management Office, the Director General of the Bureau for Public Procurement, my executive directors, two non-executive directors, facilitators-25 people in all spent five days at the Intercontinental Hotel, Lagos, and we have pictures and documentary evidence to support this.

“We paid for flights, logistics, food, and accommodation, and that is where the N94 m went. It was not a one-day event but a five-day retreat, and the Minister of Power was there for the entire retreat. This is documented too,” a claim supported by the committee.

According to Hon Ismail, the N94m “Is justifiable considering the dignitaries that attended the five-day retreat.”

An unidentified member of the committee added that at the Eko Signature Hotel Lagos, “A moderate room is N650,000 per night. Five nights for 25 people will cost N81 million, excluding food and ticketing. This figure (N94m) might be big in our eyes, but I think it is justifiable.”

In his contribution, a member of the committee, Mr Billy Osawaru, stated that since the N94m had been appropriated, there was no need for further deliberation on the issue by the members.

“Was the money appropriated? Mr Chairman, if the money was appropriated, what that means is that at some point they brought this to us and we approved it. I don’t think that at this point we should start going back. So if they have brought all this proof, we should move on,” he said.

The chairman of the committee reiterated that all documents related to the five-day retreat, including payments made for logistics, were submitted by the agency during its investigation.

He also dismissed the petitioner’s claim of a purchase of office in the North by the agency, saying, “We didn’t see evidence of purchase of office in the North.”

The committee urged the petitioner to feel free to come forward with other subsequent findings, promising that it would do justice to every petition submitted before it in the interest of Nigerians.