N32bn meter fund held by a private company, Adelabu claims

By Innocent Raphael

Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, has revealed that a private company held onto N32 billion intended for the supply of three million prepaid meters since 2003.

Special Adviser to the Minister on Strategic Communications and Media Relations, Bolaji Tunji, disclosed this in a statement on Wednesday, while addressing concerns over a controversial N40 billion meter contract awarded to De Haryor Global Services, a foreign firm.

Tunji explained that the Federal Government, in 2003, entered a tripartite agreement with Messrs Ziklagsis Network Limited and Unistar International to supply meters to distribution companies within three years.

According to him, despite releasing a revolving metering loan of N32 billion to Messrs Ziklagsis, the project, aimed at providing meters for Army formations nationwide, it never commenced.

Consequently, Minister Adelabu then obtained approval from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to retrieve the funds for De Haryor Global Services to initiate the project.

The statement read: “The agreement was not implemented while the fund remained in the bank account of Ziklagsis at the then Prudent Bank from where it moved to Skye Bank, Polaris and lately, Providus Bank.

“It was then that Ziklagsis was introduced to the Nigerian Army by the Ministry of Power. Around this period, the Nigerian Army also introduced De Haryor Global Services to Ziklagsis to enable them to work together.

“In November 2022, discussion began on the project among the parties, and an agreement was signed between the Nigerian Army as a client, Messrs Ziklagsis as project supervisor and De Haryor Global Services as a service provider to commence the metering projects in Army barracks at a cost of N12.7billion, under the MDAs metering project.

“This predates the appointment of Adelabu as Minister of Power. Despite this, the money was not released to the service provider that had already sought funds to acquire smart meters.

“Concerned about the over eight million metre gap in the country and the liquidity squeeze in the Nigeria Electricity Supply Industry, the Minister wondered how money meant for a national project could be held up untouched for over 20 years by an individual.

“He mounted pressure and escalated the matter to the presidency to retrieve the revolving fund from Messrs Ziklagsis plus accrued interest to date. The President duly approved this. Upon the President’s approval, N12.7 billion was, therefore, to be released in tranches to De Haryor Global Services to commence the installation of already procured smart meters.

“The minister should, therefore, be commended for his effort in ensuring the recovery of the revolving metre fund, which had been untouchable for over 20 years, thus enabling the eventual take-off of the project.”

Recalls that the Power Minister had recently faced heavy criticism for awarding a N40 billion meter contract to a foreign firm, De Haryor Global Services.