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$16BN POWER PROJECTS: Obasanjo should be made to face EFCC, ICPC —SERAP

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$16BN POWER PROJECTS: Obasanjo should be made to face EFCC, ICPC —SERAP

Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, (SERAP) has suggested to President Muhammadu Buhari what he should do to former President Olusegun Obasanjo over alleged mismanagement of $16 billion spent on power projects during his administration between 1999 and 2007.

The group said that Buhari should urgently refer the allegation to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) for further investigation, and that “if there is relevant and sufficient admissible evidence, for anyone suspected to be involved to face prosecution.”

Buhari had on Tuesday accused Obasanjo of spending $16 billion on power projects during his tenure as the President without corresponding power supply to Nigerians. But responding, Obasanjo said the President’s allegation was rooted in ignorance, claiming he was already cleared of any wrongdoing concerning the power sector by the National Assembly, and referring Buhari to his autobiography, My Watch, which he said reproduced various reports on the matter.

But SERAP in a statement by its executive director, Adetokunbo Mumuni said, “We welcome the focus by President Buhari on the massive allegations of corruption and mismanagement in the power sector and urge him to expand his searchlight beyond the Obasanjo government by ensuring accountability and full recovery of the over N11 trillion squandered by the three administrations. It is only by pursuing all the allegations and taking the evidence before the court that the truth will be revealed and justice best served. This is the only way to conclusively address the systemic corruption in the power sector and an entrenched culture of impunity of perpetrators.”

The organization also urged Buhari to “refer to the EFCC and ICPC not just allegations regarding the $16 billion power projects but also the alleged squandering of over N11 trillion meant to provide regular electricity supply covering the governments of former presidents Olusegun Obasanjo, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and Goodluck Jonathan.”

The statement read in part, “SERAP notes that lack of access to uninterrupted energy/electricity services has forced many citizens to use and collect frequently contaminated surface water for drinking and household uses; and denied the citizens the ability and services for boiling, purifying, disinfecting, and storing water, as well as for irrigation to increase the productivity of lands, thereby decreasing the availability of food supplies and undermining employment opportunities.

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“SERAP notes that the failure by successive governments to tell Nigerians the truth about allegations of corruption in the spending of not just the $16 billion but also the over N11 trillion spent by three governments on electricity supply amounts to a failure to ensure that energy services/electricity services are progressively made available, on the basis of equality and non-discrimination, to the whole population, including those most disadvantaged, such as the fringe dwellers and the rural poor.

“The total estimated financial loss to Nigeria from corruption in the electricity sector starting from the return to democracy in 1999 to date is over Eleven Trillion Naira (N11 Trillion Naira). This represents public funds, private equity and social investment (or divestments) in the power sector. It is estimated that may reach over Twenty Trillion Naira (N20 Trillion Naira) in the next decade given the rate of Government investment and funding in the power sector amidst dwindling fortune and recurrent revenue shortfalls.”

 

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