By Adedapo Adesanya

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has dragged the Minister of Power, Mr Adebayo Adelabu, and the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading (NBET) Plc before a Federal High Court in Abuja over their failure to account for an alleged missing N128 billion public funds.

The group in a statement on Sunday by its Deputy Director, Mr Kolawole Oluwadare, said the suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/143/2026, was filed last Friday following allegations contained in the Auditor-General of the Federation’s report published on September 9, 2025.

In the lawsuit, SERAP is seeking an order of mandamus compelling Mr Adelabu and NBET to account for what it described as “the missing or diverted N128bn from the Ministry of Power and NBET.”

The organisation is also asking the court to direct the defendants to disclose “details of how the missing or diverted N128bn was spent, including the dates of disbursement and the purported beneficiaries or contractors who received the money.”

SERAP further urged the court to compel the disclosure of “the full names, official designations and offices of all public officers who authorised, approved or otherwise participated in the release of the missing or diverted N128bn.”

According to the group, Nigerians have continued to suffer the consequences of corruption in the electricity sector, particularly amid recurring grid collapses and erratic power supply.

“Nigerians continue to pay the price for the widespread and grand corruption in the power sector,” the group said, adding that “there is a legitimate public interest in ensuring justice and accountability for these grave allegations,” arguing that granting the reliefs sought would help tackle systemic failures in the sector.

“Granting the reliefs sought would contribute to tackling corruption in the power sector and addressing the persistent breakdown of transmission lines in the country, as well as improving access of Nigerians to regular and uninterrupted electricity supply,” it stated.

The group further warned that corruption has deepened hardship for electricity consumers, noting that “ordinary Nigerians continue to pay the price for corruption in the electricity sector—staying in darkness, but still made to pay crazy electricity bills.”

The suit, filed by SERAP’s lawyers, Mr Kolawole Oluwadare, Ms Kehinde Oyewumi and Mr Andrew Nwankwo, relied heavily on findings from the Auditor-General’s 2022 audited report, which detailed multiple alleged financial irregularities involving the Ministry of Power and NBET.

The organisation stressed that public institutions are legally bound to ensure transparency, accountability, and the abolition of corrupt practices.

No date has been fixed for the hearing of the suit.

Business Post had reported earlier that Mr Adelabu claimed that the missing money happened prior to his appointment as the minister of power.

By Bon Peters

The Ibeto Seaport and Terminals Area 5 Command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Port Harcourt, Rivers State, on Friday, January 16, 2026, held a Reputation Management Cascade training for its personnel.

The seminar was aimed at strengthening ethical standards, professional conduct, and the institutional image of the service.

A statement issued by command’s spokesman, Mr Emmanuel Tangwa, a Chief Superintendent of Customs, disclosed that this was part of the service-wide driven programme to entrench integrity, accountability, and public confidence in customs operations.

The Customs Area Controller (CAC) for the command, Comptroller Usman Yahaya, described reputation as “a currency more valuable than money,” noting that “reputation like shadow follows an individual everywhere he goes.”

He said officers must consciously build their reputation with integrity and protect it with courage, as personal conduct ultimately reflects on the entire service.

Another speaker at the event, a Deputy Comptroller of Customs in charge of Revenue, Mr Jacob Onele, outlined the roles and responsibilities of leadership, senior management, public relations officers and officers at the command, zonal and field levels.

Speaking on Crisis and Reputational Risk Management, the Acting Deputy Comptroller for Administration of the command, Assistant Comptroller OE Ita, cited instances where officers’ actions negatively affected the image of the agency and explained practical steps for managing such situations to prevent reputational damage and restore public confidence.

The other speakers, including the chief examiner of the command, Assistant Comptroller MS Abdullahi; the team manager of the Customs Intelligence Unit, Deputy Comptroller HA Barka; and Deputy Comptroller BA Lawson Wadike, also aired their views on the topic of discussion, with the training providing an opportunity to a question-and-answer segment.

The participants commended the initiative and acknowledged its positive impact on their understanding of what reputation management is all about as officers noted that a single act of misconduct could stain the uniform of a thousand honest others reinforcing the lesson that reputation management begins with individual accountability.

By Adedapo Adesanya

Gradual electricity restoration has began across the nation after the country’s national grid recorded its first collapse in 2026 on Friday.

The first collapse in 2026 on January 23 came after a similar incident on December 29, 2025, which had caused widespread power outages across the country.

The prevalent grid collapse in the country has been attributed to a combination of technical faults, inadequate maintenance of transmission lines, and fluctuations in generation capacity.

Earlier today, electricity generation dropped sharply from over 4,500 megawatts to as low as 24 megawatts as of 1:30 pm.

Checks showed that all 23 power generation plants connected to the grid reportedly lost output during the incident, resulting in zero power allocation to each of the 11 electricity distribution companies from Lagos to Kano to Abuja.

Officials of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) had yet to issue a detailed statement at the time of filing this report by 4:40 p.m.

However, a notice from Abuja Electric Distribution Company (AEDC) to customers noted that “gradual restoration of supply” has commenced.

In Lagos State, several streets in the Orelope area of Alimosho Local Government also reported power restoration.