This is certainly not the best of times for former President Olusegun Obasanjo as his deeds in office continue to come under close scrutiny by the day. Upon coming to office in 1999, Obasanjo assure Nigerians, through the then minister of power and steel, Bola Ige, of adequate power supply within 24 months. A lot of money was pumped into the power sector but the power situation in the country only got worse under Obasanjo.
Interestingly, adequate power supply was part of President Umaru Musa Yar�Adua 7-point agenda. But the president said he was reluctant to pump money into the sector because his predecessor, Obasanjo, spent a whopping 10 billion dollars on electricity within eight years with nothing to show for it. President Yar�Adua blew this lid open on January 14, 2008, when a World Bank team led by Mrs. Oby Ezekwesili, a vice president in the organisation and a �super� minister in the Obasanjo government, paid him a visit.
President Yar�Adua, in fact, had to show his senior aide in charge of power sector reforms, Foluseke Somolu, the way out for disputing the president�s claims concerning spending on the power sector by the Obasanjo government. Somolu who had served in the Obasanjo government said what was spent on the sector by Obasanjo was not more than $5.16bn.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole also came up with a higher figure from that of the president. He said what former President Obasanjo spent on power was over $16 billion. The speaker�s disclosure culminated in the ongoing public hearing by the House committee on Power and Steel, which was mandated to investigate how the billions were spent on the failed power sector between 1999 and 2007, invited four governors, who headed the power sector as Ministers and committee chairmen within the period under review.
Among those expected at the public hearing are former ministers of power and steel, some of who are presently serving as state governors. The affected governors include Olusegun Agagu of Ondo State, Liyel Imoke of Cross River State, Danjuma Goje of Gombe State and Gabriel Suswam of Benue State, who was a former chairman of House Committee on Power and Steel committee.
The Chairman House Committee on Power and Steel, Hon. Ndudi Elumelu, told journalists that the committee has invited all former Ministers of Finance, Accountants-General of the Federation and Auditors-General of the Federation (1999-2007), Attorney-Generals of the Federation, all Governors of the Central Bank of Nigeria, all Permanent Secretaries of Ministry of Power and all Special Assistants to Ministers of Power within the period to submit memoranda.
Others are the Armed Forces (Army, Navy and Air Force), Inspector-General of Police, House Committee Chairmen on Power, all Secretaries to the Federal Government (SGF), former Senate Chairmen on Power (within the same period as well state Governments/Governors and other leaders and Embassies and foreign missions.
Contractors and consultants on Power projects, civil society groups, human rights groups, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Nigerian Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture (NACCIMA) and Nigerian Union of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions, Oil companies, Trade Unions, Nigerian Electricity Consumers Association and Association of Consulting Engineers were also invited.
According to the chairman, their objective is to unravel “the classic mystery in Nigerian development whereby the more you spend on power, the less electric power you get.” While declaring that the probe was not targeted at former President Obasanjo as insinuated, Honourable Elumelu, however, said that if in the course of investigations, the need arises to invite Obasanjo, the committee would not hesitate to do so.
Although Elumelu said that nobody had been indicted so far, he, however, gave assurance that anybody found culpable in the scam would be handed over to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the office of the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) for prosecution.
At one of the public hearings, which were characterised by revelations, the committee heard from the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Energy (Power), Dr. Abdullahi Aliyu that the federal government processed 300 contracts and made well over 340 payments in respect of the National Integrated Power Projects (NIPP) � but none of the contracts in the last five years passed through the Ministry of Power.
The contracts, he said, were executed between the minister and the Presidency through the Presidential Steering Committee made up of Mr. Joseph Makoju, Shomolu Sheke, Senator Liyel Imoke and Mr. Funso Kupolokun, adding that civil service bureaucracy was never involved in the award of the NIPP contracts.
Abdullahi told the Committee that: “The Information I got as the Permanent Secretary was that over 340 contracts by the Nigerian Integrated Power Projects were approved, while over 300 payments were made.” He denied that the NIPP projects were brought to the attention of the Permanent Secretary or any Director at the Ministry.
“The Permanent Secretary is usually the accounting officer, but the accounting officer then was the Minister of Power, Senator Liyel Imoke. He approved the contracts and they were forwarded to the due process Office. The minister approved everything without the knowledge of any Director or Permanent Secretary. I have visited some of those projects, but no report has been submitted to me on any of the power projects by the task force that we set up,” Abdullahi said.
Abdullahi�s submissions were corroborated by the Managing Director of the National Integrated Power Projects of the Niger/Delta Power Holding Company Plc, Mr. James A. Olotu who also named former President Olusegun Obasanjo and the former Minister of Power and Steel, now Governor of Cross River State, Senator Liyel Imoke as the two men that awarded all the project�s contracts worth N257 billion.
As the public hearings continue, more revelations are indeed certain to be made as most of the stakeholders and personalities invited are yet to appear and present their submissions.