Sequel to report released on Wednesday in Lagos by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, SERAP, indicting the successive administrations of former presidents Olusegun Obasanjo (1999 – 2007), Umaru Musa Yar’Adua (2007 – 2010) and Goodluck Jonathan (2010 – 2015) of embezzling N11 trillion meant to provide regular electricity supply in the country, an aide to former President Jonathan has said the immediate past Nigerian leader privatised the power sector thereby saving billions for the country in the process.
TheNewsGuru.com reports that the report stated that: “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.”
The 65 pages report launched on Wednesday at the Westown Hotels, Lagos is titled: From Darkness to Darkness: How Nigerians are Paying the Price for Corruption in the Electricity Sector.
The report presented to the media by Yemi Oke, Ass. Professor, Energy/Electricity Law, Faculty of Law, University of Lagos, discloses that “the country has lost more megawatts in the post-privatisation era due to corruption, impunity, among other social challenges reflected in the report.”
The report shows that “The much-publicised power sector reforms in Nigeria under the Electric Power Sector Reform Act of 2005 is yet to yield desired and/or anticipated fruits largely due to corruption and impunity of perpetrators, regulatory lapses, and policy inconsistencies. Ordinary Nigerians continue to pay the price for corruption in the electricity sector–staying in darkness, but still made to pay crazy electricity bills.”
However, Omokri, in a statement advised SERAP to conduct a thorough finding to properly ascertain who (among the three former leaders) embezzled monies meant for providing improved electricity supply to Nigerians.
Omokri revealed this in a statement he signed and released on Thursday on behalf of the former leader.
The statement reads: “My attention has been drawn to the story ‘Obasanjo, Yar’Adua, Jonathan wasted N11tn on electricity –SERAP’ published most prominently in The Punch newspapers on August 10, 2017 and less prominently in other papers.
While I cannot speak for others, I can certainly say that as touching former President Goodluck Jonathan, the story is false and is the fruit of the laziness of the researchers who could have taken advantage of the Freedom of Information Act that Dr. Jonathan signed into law in May, 2011 to get records and data from relevant government ministries, departments and agencies that would have given them a fuller picture instead of the narrow view they have.
Former President Jonathan could not have wasted ₦11 trillion or any other amounts of money for the simple reason that he was the Nigerian President who privatized the Power Sector beginning on August 26, 2010 when he launched the roadmap to power sector reforms and culminating on October 16, 2012 when the winning bids were announced for the sale of power generating and distributing companies.
SERAP may do well to remember that on Monday the 30th of September 2013, at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa, Former President Jonathan successfully handed over the bulk of Nigeria’s Power Infrastructure to successful private sector bidders after they had made payments for the assets they acquired.
At that event, he said “I congratulate our new owners who have taken over the engines and cables that are expected to drive not just the electricity industry but also the socio-economic well-being of the nation”.
In total, the Power Holding Company of Nigeria was split into six generation and 11 distribution firms, all sold separately, for about $2.5 billion for which the Jonathan administration received much deserved praise.
In fact, rather than wasting money, the Jonathan administration generated money for the federation from the sale of these assets which were seen to be transparent and followed global best practices.
Between May 6th 2010 when he was first sworn in as President to May 29, 2015 when he handed over power, the budget for the ministry of power under Dr. Jonathan was not up to ₦400 billion in total for the simple reason that his administration had succeeded in transferring most of Nigeria’s power assets, liabilities and personnel from the public sector to the private sector.
As such, it is evidently clear that any allegations that the Jonathan government wasted trillions is not a well thought out allegation at best and is a figment of the imagination of the makers at worse.
I do hope those papers which published this false report against the person of former President Jonathan and the administration that he led will be honorable enough to set the records straight for posterity”.