$16bn Power Contracts Scandal: Reps summon Obasanjo, Atiku

Idowu Samuel and Bola Badmus, Abuja - 07.05.2008

THE House of Representatives committee probing the power sector between 1999 and 2007 has asked former President Olusegun Obasanjo to appear before it to answer questions on the allegations of large-scale frauds on the National Independent Power Project (NIPP) contracts.

The committee has also summoned former Vice President Atiku Abubakar to appear on the same issue while it asked the two of them to meet at the National Assembly complex next Monday.

Also, the former Minister of Finance during the latter part of the Obasanjo administration, Mrs. Nenadi Usman, has been asked to join both Obasanjo and Atiku at the National Assembly for a special public hearing on the probe.

It will be the third invitation to be extended to the former Minister of Finance since she failed to turn up for the public hearing on each of the occasions, thus prompting the committee to threaten her with a warrant of arrest.

Usman had reacted that she never received any of the summons reportedly issued to her by the committee, claiming that she learnt about the summons only on the pages of newspapers.

The Media Consultant to the former vice president, Mallam Garba Shehu, in an interview with the Nigerian Tribune, said the former vice president left Nigeria in the afternoon of the previous day and would be staying in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and the United States for some time.

He said up till the time he left, the former vice president did not receive any invitation from the committee summoning him to the public hearing and he would like to receive the invitation first before deciding on the next step to take.

Shehu said even if Atiku were to appear before the House committee, he would be of a little assistance to it since, according to him, Atiku knew very little about what went wrong with the contract on the NIPP.

“The former vice president left the shores of Nigeria yesterday afternoon and until the time he left, no such letter reached him. I can assure you that anytime he got the letter of invitation, he would surely react.

“All the same, his position on the power sector probe has not changed. He has no light to show on the NIPP contracts because he was never a party to the contract, he was never a witness to the heavy looting that characterised the contract and he has no information to offer that will help the committee to unravel the riddles over the power project contracts.”

The invitation summoning Obasanjo, Atiku and Usman to the House public hearing dated May 3, 2005 was signed by Mallam S. Y. Ahmed.

However, the former president could not be immediately reached for reaction. The letter to Obasanjo read in part: “In carrying out its mandate, the committee had conducted a public hearing where oral testimonies were made by stakeholders from the public and private sectors. In the course of the hearing, a lot of allegations and counter allegations were made. References were also made to approvals and directives alleged to have been given by your excellency as the then president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as well as in your capacity as the chairman of the Federal Executive Council.

“In view of the foregoing, the committee, at its meeting on Tuesday, 22 April 2008, unanimously resolved that before submitting its report, it is appropriate to give you fair hearing by inviting you to come and give an insight and perspective into what you knew or your role in the execution of projects in the power sector from 1999 to 2007.

“In this regard, I am directed to invite you to appear before the committee on Monday, May 12, 2008 at 10.00 a.m. in the Conference Hall, Zero Floor, New Building, House of Representatives Wing, National Assembly complex, Abuja.”