Senate begins probe of power sector under OBJ Yar’Adua, GEJ

The time of reckoning seems to have finally come for the powerful men of yesteryears, who decided to give the teeming Nigerian population darkness instead of light.

A searchlight would be beamed on them as from today to discover while they love darkness more than light.

And the inquisition, which is coming from the Senate, would cover the period between 1999, when the current democratic dispensation started till May 2015.

Consequently, the administrations of former Presidents Olusegun Obasajo ; Late Umaru Yardua and Goodluck Jonathan would be the focus of the probe.

In a statement issued on Monday by the Clerk of Senate ad hoc Committee on Power, Cletus Ojabo, he said the probe would be in form of investigative hearing and interactive session.

All those who had at one point or the other taken part in the running of the sector under the period, including former ministers of power would be invited to face the probe panel.

According to Ojabo, the investigation would focus on funds appropriated for the power sector since 1999 and the unbundling of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN).

“It is expected that all those who played key roles in the power sector since 1999, including ministers and heads of government departments and parastatals will appear before the panel, he said”, he said.

Apparently disturbed by the epileptic power supply in the country despite the billions of Naira pumped into the power sector, the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, had last month announced a 13-man ad hoc committee to carry out a holistic investigation into the management of funds appropriated to the power sector from the Olusegun Obasanjo civilian administration to date.

The committee, which has Senator Abubakar Kyari, (APC Borno North) as chairman, was also charged to look into irregularities in the unbundling of the PHCN.

The committee would also look into the entire power value chain including generation, transmission and distribution with a view to identifying the problems being faced in the power sector.

Read also: Army sets up panel to probe arms purchase

Nigeria with a population of over 170million people currently generates around 4,600MW, which is abysmally inadequate.

As a result, many Nigerians have had to resort to the use of small power generating sets, popularly referred to as ‘I pass my neigbour’ despite the health hazards associated them because of heavy emission of carbon-monoxide.

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