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Billions of electricity dollars evaporated in Nigeria
LAGOS
Petroleumworld.com, Mar 24, 2008
Ten billion dollars? Twelve billion? Sixteen billion? The astronomical sums of money bandied around bear no relation to the energy Nigeria produced under former president Olusegun Obasanjo from 1999 to 2007.
A parliamentary panel of enquiry is going through the previous administration's energy policy with a fine tooth comb.
"The whole business stinks," an MP familiar with the enquiry told AFP. Pell-mell the panel has discovered that a contract was awarded to a German company blacklisted by the World Bank for shady practices in other African countries and that a further 34 contracts were awarded to companies not even registered in Nigeria.
Last week two high-ranking federal public finance officials Hamman Tukur and Kabir Rabiu testified under oath to the panel about how Obasanjo inaugurated a non-existent "power station" in the bush of southeastern Cross River state.
"I went there some time after (the inauguration) with a government advisor. There was nothing but bush, not even an access road," Kabir Rabiu recounted.
"Based on documents and testimonies it has been clearly established that the amounts spent in the period under review stand at 13.28 billion dollars," said Ndudi Elumelu, who heads up the panel.
Elumelu says he cannot rule out calling both Obasanjo and his former deputy Atiku Abubkar to testify before the panel.
The speaker of the lower house Dimeji Bankole has said that 16 billion dollars in all were wasted trying to produce electricity under Obasanjo.
Among those who have already testified before the panel are several state governors, central bank chief Charles Soludo, several finance ministry officials including current finance minister Shamsudeen Usman and current Attorney General Michael Aondoakaa.
In the meantime, Nigeria, Africa's most populous country and potentially, thanks to oil, one of its richest, continues to suffer from an ever worsening lack of electricity.
The country currently produces 3,000 megawatts for a population of around 140 million, compared for example to around 38,000 megawatts for 45 million South Africans.
And who is responsible for the wasted cash?
"It's a bit difficult to say," Electricity Minister Fatimah Ibrahim told AFP in a recent interview.
"The big problem is that many projects were never finished. From that point of view, the government is responsible for not having followed up on those projects," Ibrahim said.
Many observers are worried that no one will follow up on the latest findings of the panel.
"The public hearings are a positive development but the real challenge is now going to be bringing legal proceedings against the looters. We don't want all of these elements being swept under the carpet," wrote the opposition daily Punch.
Story by Jacques Lhuillery from AFP
AFP 24 0830 GMT 03 08
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