30 Mar 2008 |
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Power Sector Probe: More Questions Than Answers The on-going probe of expenditures in the power sector under the Obasanjo administration is raising more questions than answers. My fear is that the House Committee on Power and Steel may soon find itself swamped by an avalanche of contradictory testimonies which may serve the purpose of creating utter confusion. The committee is enjoying a lot of publicity. Its Chairman, Ndidi Elumelu is having his 15 minutes of fame, there is a cheap soap opera quality to the whole process. But it is important that the House Committee makes up its mind about what it is exactly looking for. The interrogations are beginning to sound and look like a wild goose chase. Every key player in the power sector under Obasanjo who has so far been invited to appear before the panel manages to exonerate himself or herself and stage a little drama of self-promotion. Some persons have even gone there to give lectures! The process has also entered a new phase: that of buck-passing. Nobody is accepting responsibility for anything.. What is required is more rigorous questioning and a close interrogation of the evidence provided. It may even be necessary to engage the assistance of persons who are skilled in the art of cross examination and lie detection. Nigerians are hoping that at the end of this, some persons will be handed over to the police or the EFCC or that there will be serious sanctions All the witnesses appearing before the House Committee on Power are getting away too easily. The Committee members need to ask more probing questions. They need to recall their earlier guests particularly Liyel Imoke, Olusegun Agagu, James Olotu. But to be fair, the exercise so far has been useful in certain respects. The hypocrisy of the Obasanjo government on the questions of due process and transparency has been exposed. That government made a fetish out of due process, it advertised its commitment to due process as a major achievement of its anti-corruption drive. Hitherto, government contracts were awarded at will without any monitoring and evaluation or quality control. Due process was therefore a novelty. But what we have now discovered is that due process worked under Obasanjo's government only when Obasanjo wanted it. In the power sector, the President granted waivers. And it is such waivers that hardened criminals in the corridors of power have always exploited to commit fraud. Why did Obasanjo grant so many waivers? The House Committee on Power must find the courage to invite him for questioning. He would possibly claim that he did so in public interest, because he wanted quick action and results in the power sector. But this would be a weak defence indeed, considering the manner in which the former President touted due process as the magic wand for checking corruption. He has even been accused of awarding contracts without recourse to the tenders' board. What does he have to say to that? Secondly, one other obvious gain of the on-going probe is the confirmation that the Obasanjo government did not work as a team at all. Even outside power, they are busy knifing each other in the back. Third, President Obasanjo, I insist is the one whose leadership is on trial. Virtually every person who has appeared before the Committee has had to say something about the former President and his abuse of due process. So, far, General Obasanjo has refused to utter a word. His media managers must either be asleep or they are incompetent. And if the former President thinks this is yet another issue that would soon blow away, he may be mistaken. He should start preparing his defence to prevent his own humiliation and to save whatever he is still able to save. Nigerians would like to see him taken up on all the issues that have been raised. He owes Nigerians an explanation. Fourth, the National Integrated Power Project under Obasanjo has been shown to be a scam. Fifth, the people's right to know is being protected. This is a good development. Sixth, after this probe what next? This is the all-important question. That the power sector is prostrate has been established beyond doubt. The Federal Government would still have to address the problem. All the persons who have appeared before the panel have not been of any help in this regard. Liyel Imoke, former Minister of Power and Steel told the panel that "It is vexatious that so much was spent on the power sector.." Oh yes, it is. But should he be the one saying so? Then Imoke gave a lecture on the building of power plants and why there is no gas to power the thermal stations in the country. He needs to be recalled to answer other questions especially in the light of Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala's testimony a few days ago. Dr Olusegun Agagu, also a former Minister of Power and Steel was quick to give a lecture too: "#16 billion wont be enough", said he "to supply Nigerians with the much needed power. Somebody must be held accountable for not making enough money available". Now, can you beat that? And the great Professor didn't fail to point out that it was not his duty as Minister to check if companies, to be awarded contracts, were registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission or not. And surprisingly, the Committee allowed him to get away with this self-serving statement. Professor Chukwuma Soludo, the CBN Governor also appeared before the Committee. In his own case, he never saw any evil, heard no evil and so, he spoke no evil. He was merely doing his job as a banker to the Federal Government, he said. When it was his turn, the Chairman of the Revenue Mobilisatioon and Fiscal Allocation Commission (RMAFC), Haman Tukur, gave details of how the Federal Government abused the excess crude accounts. Tukur further disclosed that President Obasanjo once commissioned an empty site as a power station in Cross River state! This is a serious allegation. Dr Okonjo-Iweala, former Minister of Finance, also appeared before the Committee. She told the Representatives what questions they could not ask her to start with. And they gladly obliged. Then, she made revelations which directly put General Obasanjo, Liyel Imoke, and Nenadi Usman, her successor in the Ministry of Finance on the spot. In her own testimony, Dr Oby Ezekwesili used the opportunity to preach about the value of due process. According to her: "The issue of waiver by the ex-President should never have happened if the Executive had followed the procedure that I laid down as the DG of the Bureau of Public Procurement." Very good. I was surprised the Committee members did not stand up to applaud her performance. With everyone behaving like a saint, we are not anywhere closer to the key questions than we were when this probe began. Certain hard questions must now be asked. They include. - How much exactly was spent on the power sector between 1999 and 2007? $10 billion, $4 billion, $16 billion?, $26 billion? How much? We need to know. - Who exactly spent what and on what? What is the state of the power sector in terms of on-going projects, completed projects, and contracts awarded? Where are the projects located? - If due process was not followed why? Who are the beneficiaries? Were the waivers granted in good faith and in public interest, or to facilitate a cover up? - What role did various individuals play in the mismanagement of power sector funds? And who has committed what offence under the law? - If money was stolen, where is it? - Some of the states are protesting that they want their share of the excess crude account which was wasted on the power sector, without results, returned to them. What is the opinion of the House of Representatives? - The ghost companies that were awarded contracts and paid for job not done, who are their real owners? The House Committee should seek to lift their veils. The Committee must also begin to pay close attention to nuances and gestures. It must discourage its guests from turning the probe into a platform for self-righteousness. The event is being broadcast live on television. Obviously this encourages every guest to put up a show and impress the viewing audience. One sad part of it all however, is this: General Obasanjo must be so unhappy at this moment. Even his own Ministers, those whom he gave the opportunity to have a place in the sun, cannot are not covering his back for him. The presentations by Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and Oby Ezekwesili did further damage to OBJ's already shaky credentials. Nigerians are eagerly awaiting the former President's explanations. Advice To Iyabo Obasanjo Senator Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello, daughter of former President Olusegun Obasanjo was the subject of a short but interesting story in The Punch newspaper of Friday, March 28, 2008. Journalists had reportedly accosted her at the National Assembly premises as she left a meeting and she was heading for her office. They wanted her to comment on the N10 million that she and her colleagues in the Senate Committee on Health collected from the Ministry of Health as their share of the now-famous N300 million. The Punch wrote: "Obviously embarrassed by questions hauled at her by reporters, Obasanjo-Bello said:"Senate security, nobody should come into my office". And her orders were enforced. I have a simple word of advice for the lady. She is too young to play this kind of power game with the media. In her early forties, she still has a long journey ahead of her hopefully in the public arena. Treating journalists with contempt won't serve her as a good strategy in the long run. She has been accused of abuse of office and privilege, in at least three instances now. The public has been told how she used her position as First Daughter to facilitate contract deals in the process of which she even posed as a certain Mrs Okanlawon. If she truly believes that she is innocent, then she needs to tell her story and place her cards on the table. And she has a lot to explain. In case she does not know this: her image rating is one of the lowest in this country today. Getting angry and throwing tantrums is not the best response. It is better to talk to the press; it is unwise to ask security details to shut the journalists out. One day, she may feel like talking to the media, and the media may not be ready to listen to her story. Too many people make the mistake of saying what they know and telling stories that they should tell. They harm their own image in the process. Iyabo, don't play a game you can't win. General Obasanjo can bluff the press; he probably doesn't need the media anymore. But as for you, lady, beware of the Obasanjo complex.
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