President Muhammadu Buhari has been commended for the re-appointment
of Professor Eli Jidere Bala as the Director General of Energy
Commission of Nigeria (ECN) for the second term.
The commendation was made by the youth caucus of All Progressives
Congress (APC). The caucus member of the APC youth wing Mr. Charles
Nwanodu disclose to newsmen in Port Harcourt on Wednesday that the
reappointment was further revealed that president Buhari has taken his
stand on integrity a notch higher.
The youths spoke against the backdrop of the protest against Prof
Jidere’s reappointment by some members of staff of the commission.
In statement he insisted that the tenure of the DG has brought about
far-reaching reforms in the commission, saying those criticizing his
reappointment are not ready to move on from the old ways of running a
government. ‘We have observed a disturbing turn of events in the
Nigerian political landscape, where even issues of administration are
politicized for cheat political gains. This over-politicization has
become the bane of the Nigerian public service space, holding back
viable and promising policies and projects from implementation to
better a lot of Nigerians’.
According to him the union could not point to any financial misconduct
committed by the DG. “prof. Eli Jidere reduced the Commission’s debt
on constituency projects to N6.5billion from N16Billion in 2013, while
ensuring that no new debt was incurred on executed projects by paying
fully for all contracts entered into in the period”, it said.
The youths noted that “Prof. Jidere had, during his first term in
office, restored sanity and probity to the management of the
commission, instilling financial discipline and openness in
governance.
Saying the commission belongs to all Nigerians, the group vowed to
resist any attempt to hold such a sensitive agency of government to
ransom, adding that “the march towards energy sufficiency for Nigeria
will not be scuttled by any vested interest as these will incur the
wrath of the people.”
The statement added. “On the international scene, Prof. Jidere ensured
that Nigeria’s contributions to international energy organization’s
were fully paid up, which was a far departure from the past,
facilitating the election of Nigeria as Vice President of
International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).”
The group commended President Muhammadu Buhari for his steadfastness
in “reappointing Prof. Jidere to continue the good work he has done so
far and consolidate on the achievements recorded so far.” All of these
issues is the fact that there is no record been carried out on the
affairs of the ECN since.