Section 51(3) of Chapter IV Customer Complaints Handling Standards and Procedures of the Customer Protection Regulations 2023 (“CPR”) provides that all decisions of the Forum shall be taken by a majority of the members present and in the event of an equality of votes, the Chairperson of the Forum shall have the second or casting vote. On the composition of the Forum, Section 44(4) of the CPR states that the Forum shall consist of five part-time members who shall be reputable men and women living in the operational area of the Distribution Licensee. The Secretary of the Forum is not listed as a member of the Forum in the CPR and therefore has no voting rights in decision-making.
The Forum is a quasi-court or administrative tribunal. The Forum Secretary is akin to a court registrar responsible for managing all administrative duties required for the proper functioning of the Forum Office. The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (“NERC”) appoints the Forum Secretary, and he or she is usually a staff of the Commission. I have sat in Forum hearings where the Forum Secretary interjects and plays an overt active part in deliberations by offering advisory roles on the interpretation of a relevant customer protection regulation. But with all due respect, I think that this is wrong. The members of the Forum must be seen as people who have an in-depth knowledge of the regulatory framework of any customer complaint that comes before them without requesting the input of the secretary.
