FROM THE HOUSE: Power probe: Will House committee summon OBJ?

Bola Badmus, Abuja

Obasanjo

The House of Representatives was a focus of attention last week as it began a public hearing on investigations into how the last administration spent $16billion on the power sector without much to show for it.

Before 1999, Nigeria had generated about 3,000 megawatts of electricity. But by 2003, some officials of government had said that power generation had increased to 6,000 megawatts. Last May, when former President Olusegun Obasanjo handed over to President Umaru Yar’Adua, unconfirmed statistics had shown that the regime had failed to deliver on its promise as the country was said to be generating just 1,500 megawatts of electricity. It, therefore, would not amount to exaggeration to say that Nigeria was in total darkness under that regime as the 1,500 megawatts could not serve a population of 140 million people.

With the inquest of the House Committee on Power and Steel into how the last administration expended $16billion without tangible results, Nigerians may eventually know where their money went. The committee is headed by Honourable Ndudi Godwin Elumelu. Shocking revelations about how the money was spent are what have confounded many Nigerians.

President Yar’Adua and the Speaker, House of Representatives, Honourable Dimeji Bankole, have, at one point or the other, said that the fund was wasted. Many Nigerians have also agreed with the two leaders. But the situation could have been better if leaders had done what they were required to do. Little wonder that many Nigerians in the Diaspora are reportedly staying glued to their television sets watching the live broadcast of the public hearing on the investigation into how $16billion was spent on power generation and distribution between 1999 and 2007.

At the public hearing, Nigerians were told how the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) awarded phony contracts for power generation stations at Kainji Dam while Mr. I. C. Okoli, Managing Director of Hydro Electric Power, said he was not aware that anything was spent on the station. Consequently, the House committee has ordered PHCN to refund $142million to the coffers of the Federal Government. Out of the $16billion, N250million was said to have been used to build a mere bungalow.

Also, the spending of another $3.5billion was taken out of the supervisory control of the Ministry of Power and Steel and given to a body called National Integrated Power Project (NIPP). Mr. James Olotu, Managing Director of NIPP, described this as illegal as the body was not established by an act of parliament.

It was also said that a company, Rockson Engineering Company, got allocation of over N80billion for a contract Chief Obasanjo awarded by mere pronouncement. Olotu disclosed this to the panel, adding that the former president’s action was because the company’s performance in Rivers State when he (Obasanjo) went to the state on a courtesy visit had impressed him. But a revelation that stunned many observers was that in all the projects the company did for NIPP, more than four have not reached five or at most 10 per cent completion stage whereas the company had received up to 90 per cent payment for the projects.

Again, Obasanjo was said to have awarded projects to a Chinese firm at the cost of N116billion, with the assessment level of the consultants put at zero execution for the projects located at Papalantoro in Ogun State and Omotoso in Ondo State.

While the citizens continue to rage over the shocking revelations already made before the investigative panel, many more Nigerians are yet give account of their stewardship in respect to how the $16billion was expended. It is expected that the House would decide the kind of punishment to be meted out to those that might be found wanting at the end of the investigation.

Already, the committee has summoned former Minister of Finance and now Managing Director of World Bank, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Professor Chukuma Soludo, to appear before it. The question now is: Will the committee be bold enough to summon Chief Obasanjo to appear before it based on the litany of evidence before it?

But it is apt to say here that the former president will do himself good if he appears before the committee even without waiting for summon. This will enable him to clear his name before the Nigerian public.