dangermous:

@Uche

They are not mutually exclusive, but the point be say, the probe's focus has avoided

the real issue. How to get more power?

succinctly put dangermouse. . .for once we agree

Yes we need to determine who did what and who stole what, but more importantly how to move forward. I hear little or nothing of that.

By the way, who's father here is stealing?

Help me ask my fellow Nigerian uche2 nna , pls, whose father is stealling,

dangermous:

@Uche

They are not mutually exclusive, but the point be say, the probe's focus has avoided

the real issue. How to get more power?

I have always pointed out  in my post that I do not like the manner and way by which the probe panel is going about its business. So, yeah, I agree that we need to have the House more focused on the issue which includes building upon what we already have and also asking questions on how we arrived there in the first place.

However, some posts here seem to suggest to me that some people are riled at just the thought that Obj is questioned at all .

@ basking4me
And please, dont try to push this thread to be a tribal thing cos it is not.

basking4me:

Help me ask my fellow Nigerian uche2 nna , please, whose father is stealling,

I am sorry, I did not mean to be personal there and I was not suggesting anything funny.

I was just reacting to ur post about Obj being somebody's father , somebody's uncle and bla bal bla. And that is why I said if U know ur father is a thief and U dont want to be embarrased in public, tell him to stop stealing.

But come to think of it, this probe is not necessarily a bad thing, is it not the probe thats making everyone here say move forward.

Move forward we will but questions must be asked and answered and erring officials PUNISHED. The projects might have been ill planned thats the issue and not some time lag arguement, President Obasanjo is a retired president and all due respect to him he is not "baba" as someone here used.

Please he was the CEO of the nation and investments were not prudently managed. He has questions to answer, will he handle Otta Farms that way, if he will then we should be careful choosing our CEO. The question raised by skyblue remains key to this discussion funds were spent and there are no tangible results on ground.

No one is advocating to stop the power projects, thats absolute rubbish but we are advocating for accountability and prudence in governance.

Nice response from Obasanjo!
For many on this forum, it is clear that you are suffering from mordernizational deliquencies. If you have any reason to say that Obasanjo is guilty you provide your facts. I am however not saying I believe all he said. But as a matter of fact for anyone who is familiar with project mangement and goverment you would agree that the respondent is sound in his defense.
I look forward to hear the commitees's reaction.

Anytime I read responses from Nigerians about past government officials I feel bad because many just open their mouth and say all sort of things they heard in the market from some people who feel things are going the way they thought ( whatever their mood was). Let us learn to be objective when dealing with matters. Somebody foolishly wrote on this forum that he doesn't care whatever Obasanjo has to say, he believes the old man is guilty. In developed countries even when they accuse their past leaders they do it with dignity not calling your incubent president names when you have no facts.

I hope those who are involved with this matter will reveal information concerning the power project for us to know if Obasanjo is right in all he has said. In the meantime I want to say Baba has put up a sound defence.

what a mad generation? the big question here is wether or not money was spent wrongly. it is not important who did. we all know that obj was a part of the last administration. a probe panel is a not a law court.
why did obj establish oputa panel? why won't another administration set up a panel of inquiry?
we are all witnesses to the facts that our roads, power supply, security etc went down below what they used to be in the past eight years yet huge sums of money were spent and the act of questioning the key players becomes a crime.
for u all, i call u paid labourers.
accept my word, if you have been paid, you still have a bigger task ahead to diggest your funds because the cries of the suffering masses will surely course problems in your families.
a man who was valued at 20 thousand naira now worth billions in dollars with the country 10 years backward in development yet madmen have reasons to praise him.
if obj had the gut to probe abacha's administration and recieve our praises, someone else will still be praised either now or later.

@belabela why don't we stick to the power issue at hand? People should provide the facts if they know OBJ is guilty? Has the FOI bill been passed? So how do people get this information to provide facts with if they don't have acess to this information, pluck it from thin air? Why did OBJ not pass the FOI bill before he left office when his assent was the only one that was required given that it had already been passed by everyone else? How much did OBJ have before he came out of prison? How was ota farms then and how is it now? Do you know how much is required to build and run a mordenised farm not to talk of modernising a farm? How much is the presidents salary? Is it not in millions not billions in naira? Please let us not be coy in our discourse. The issue on this thread is power. While i wholeheartedly assign to the belief that this government should be tackling problems you speak as if fixing power and tackling corruption are two mutually exclusive things. Is it Yaradua that is asking the questions? This just reminds me of a post by a nairalander after the election tribunals ruled in favour of Yaradua. The poster said it was ok because he/she knew the next elections will be better anyway. I was just shocked and could not help but keep asking "how do you know it will be better next time around"? Is that not reaping where we did not sow? We want to rid corruption but we are not willing to fight against it or even stand against it or demand more transparency and accountability? If moving forward to some posters on this thread is a euphemism for letting sleeping dogs lie then one major question, how do you know it will be different in 4 years time? Why must we repeat thesame cycle endlessly without seeing the pattern? Billions were spent on virtually every sector in the country during those 8 years true or false? Do the improvements in those sectors (education, ,road, transport, water, electricity, health, agric, etc), do they tally up with the funds? So please why on earth are we being so coy? Why are we downplaying the situation in the country? With high unemployment everywhere whereby people now see armed robbery as a career choice? Why are we being so coy? This is about power but these things had to be said considering that people are trying to make the ex president into a victim. This is not anti OBJ but anti corruption and anti bad governance which has been the bane of the country for all these years. Does expecting the new guy to be an angel when the previous guys with questions to answer are given a pat on the back all for "national inerest" make sense? The status quo needs to change. You really think these things will just go away if we continue patting it on the back and being too scared to ask questions because some work was done? Wow, does that not just give a whole new meaning to the phrase "give a dog a bone" whereby the dogs in this case are Nigerians? For corruption to be fought an uncompromising stance is needed. We need to look at ourselves in the mirror and be brutaly honest so that we can actually move on and denial is not going to get us anywhere. Power is the issue here so let us stick to the topic. If the owner of Ota farm has nothing to hide then he shouldn't be afraid so why should anyone else be afraid for him?

I beg I get one question

The guy don show up Last I heard , he was sick

I do have a question as well. There are tons of other problems in that country that need to be dealt with. Is the committee also looking into probing other areas or is it that when Nigerians work, they can not multi-task? What about a probe into the agricultural sector and finding out how come food production issues of the past decade have not been worked out, with all the billions that have been pumped into that sector as well? Water works? Health? Communications? Where are the billions that went into all these areas?? What do we have now to show for all that ?? I mean since Yar adua came in, from here, it seems the country is still running on one track.

To be honest what i am worried about is if the probe is genuine and uncompromising and actually serious and not just another way to make money. A genuine probe is needed but what is even as important is what happens after the probe and what actions are taken as a result of the probe and its outcome. Wether the reps are doing a genuine job is another matter but nevertheless, these questions need answers and actions need to be taken so why are people getting offended about the whole idea or concept of this?

Kobojunkie:

I do have a question as well. There are tons of other problems in that country that need to be dealt with. Is the committee also looking into probing other areas or is it that when Nigerians work, they can not multi-task? What about a probe into the agricultural sector and finding out how come food production issues of the past decade have not been worked out, with all the billions that have been pumped into that sector as well? Water works? Health? Communications, where are the billions that went into all these areas?? What do we have now to show for all that ?? I mean since Yar adua came in, from here, it seems the country is still running on one track.

LMAO.

Sky Blue:

To be honest what i am worried about is if the probe is genuine and uncompromising and actually serious and not just another way to make money. A genuine probe is needed but what is even as important is what happens after the probe and what actions are taken as a result of the probe and its outcome. Wether the reps are doing a genuine job is another matter but nevertheless, these questions need answers and actions need to be taken so why are people getting offended about the whole idea or concept of this?

That is my worry and concerns too and not if Obj was/is someone's parent. Of course he is. Take a look @ Iyabo

Don't you all wonder if this could also be a distraction created so the Nigerian people from the important issues that need to be focused more on. I mean yar adua. What is he doing about the health problems, the current projects that are waiting to be completed, the food crises, roads, water. I mean I hope things are not in stand still mode until this probe is over. I know in the past, that has been sort of the way the government works; once it focuses on one area, that is it for other areas.

My main focus is also on Yaradua and what he has been doing. I don't think people will forget that Yaradua is yet to do anything substantial when they have no water and they have no light for days would they? I am not forgetting Yaradua at all and as i said, we are where we are now and the main issue should be how to get out of this mess. I still think that does not mean that government of the past should not be held accountable. Yaradua is not holding these committees is he? So can't his government start new projects? A new precedence of accountability and low tolerance for corruption needs to be set doesn't it?

Kobojunkie:

Don't you all wonder if this could also be a distraction created so the Nigerian people from the important issues that need to be focused more on. I mean yar adua. What is he doing about the health problems, the current projects that are waiting to be completed, the food crises, roads, water. I mean I hope things are not in stand still mode until this probe is over. I know in the past, that has been sort of the way the government works; once it focuses on one area, that is it for other areas.

I hope that is not the case.

But knowing Nigeria, u might be right

I am not against the probe. But we have had probes in the past and I believe Nigerians are an easily distracted bunch ( maybe some but in fact, I wager, the majority). If we take a stroll down to the newspapers stands around Ikoyi, I bet you will find people swallowing these stories. coming from the media as if every word contained were true; focus moved to what OBJ did or did not do. We will find that many quickly forget that we need to make sure that what happened with probes in the past do not happen again, make sure that the media at least understands that Yar adua needs to remain front and center in the minds of Nigerians.

It is already a year since he has been in office and it already seems the same old trend is playing out once again. Look at the  front pages of the major newspapers in the country and you already see that it seems focuse has already been diverted from Yar adua to Obasanjo.

If i felt the probe was genuine and going to be effective and actually result in action then i would have said let the papers run it for 2 weeks non stop if they have to sef because we really need to start building solid foundations based on accountability whereby we know if people mess up they can be held accountable and prosecuted if found guilty etc. Ofcourse the probe is in all the papers. The implications of a genuine and effective probe are for Nigeria quite huge and in public interest. If it means greedy and selfish people will think twice before applying for posts in power thereby leaving power more open to people who want to make an actual difference then is that such a bad thing? The real question i think should be, what will come off this probe? Is it a genuine one and will anything actually be done? If it is going to be like all the other useless probes that result in nothing then we have a problem.

@Sky blue
You have every reason to react the way you have done. I appreciate it. However it is important to know that until we can prove that a person is guilty he continues to be alleged of being guilty. To come out and say a man is a criminal when he has not been declared so ( or you have facts to back it up) does not make any sense.
I talked about us being objective. Obasanjo's farm was doing fine before he was jailed by Abacha and during his years in jail he lost almost all. That he is worth billions today may be questionable however it must be proven objectively.


The case here is power. Isn't it? So let the commitee react to it. I talked with someone a few moments ago and gave me some info about the panel's visit to one of the sites. However I leave it to the panel to divulge the info.



We can do little about this case than to make our opinions known as nairaland is helping to achieve this. But for our opinions to count it must be as objective as possible. If we dont leave this " I think the man must be guilty " politics to facing facts and objectivity by presenting the cases as much as we can prove it, things won't go forward.


I only hope this power project is completed. The foresight is good and the vision brillant. Let the panel show us how it plans to react to this statements from Obasanjo. When 120 million people want to be a judge in a case then there is crisis. Let's leave the panel to come out with their submissions. However if you have any useful information to help the panel forward it to them. However we cannot say because we are thirsty we drink a water that is 100 degrees hot to quench the thirst. Let's embrace objectivity.

The committee may not be perfect, but they should be allowed to discharge their constitutional responsibility. When does the messanger become the culprit?

Other committees of the House such as Health, education, agriculture may decide to hold hearings on their own areas too, the current discussion is based on the energy committee.

kudos to obj. I just hope yar adua peep some positive lessons from obj. No one is perfect but obj is trying on his democratic path to help the nation (at least before he passes away). But I hope the probe continues and exposes and punishes wrong doings that could somehow trickle down to the masses.

oh Lord my God, i keep praying for your powerful hand to smite our corrupt leaders, since i do not have the capacity to wipe them out myself neither do a lot of nigerians, but for the sake of the suffering masses, pls God, bring problems, diseases and death on all our corrupt leaders. After they get wiped out help us put in place those leaders that are there to serve the people and who love their country. How long shall we continue to suffer?? It hurts so much because its like growing up with a silver spoon in front of u and not in your mouth. we have great potential but CORRUPTION continues to be our bane. After 37+ years of independence, our government cannot provide "simple" consistent power supply. Higher education is in a deplorable state, No jobs, bad roads! I have asked myself numerous times what i can do to make a change, but in all honesty i don't wanna die yet at least not now, due to the track record Nigeria has in Killing off idealists and people that have the interest of Nigeria in their hearts. Having said this, maybe and maybe it wont be a bad idea after all, for the sake of my unborn children, grand children and greater grand children, for the Dignity of this great Land called Nigeria. The question is how do i begin? I have been battling for years with this answer and i believe the time is near. The time is near to take back Nigeria and give it back to the people. The time is NOW!

@kobojunkie

You dont need to go far to Ikoyi Just look at the response on Nairaland when Gani was declared dead.

They are destroying all that Obj Did and they are happy well time will tell. Obj has very little time on earth compared to some of us.

@Skyblue & others,

A glance at your posts in this section reveals your analytical lacuna, infact your argument is lacking in emperical substance and defy logic. In short it brings to mind what we refers to in political studies as "bolehole theory". A scientific analysis of socio-economic and political phenomenon presuppose OBJECTIVITY, which means you keep your biases, personal indiosyncracies at bay- otherwise you will be no different from the everyday market woman analysis of political events. Why i do not want to query your disciplinary background but I would rather you not maintaining an authoritative stance on issues that you know next to nothing. It is obvious you re oblivion of the nature of Engineering projects neither are you grounded in dynamics of politics. I even doubt if you know the kind of powers that an executive presidency can exercise,

For your information, in the presidential system of govt that we practice,
(a) The president has wide discreationary powers- the implication is he can use his judgment on many issues, this raises the issues of if he has a sound judgment or not (discreational powers is difficult to prove in a court of law even though there re gazzet in exercise of such powers- this power is one of the limitation of the rule of law, however , it is for smooth administration & emergencies & for purpose of removing bottle necks that stiffle administrative efficiency, i.e waiver of due process in payment for contractors)
(b) Govt policies are immune against litigation- the implication is that you can not challenge govt policy and win in a court of law- reason- it is a political solution to public problems which is derived from the popular mandate from the electorate NIPP is one of such policy.
(c) The president mandate is equal & superior to the National Assembly- He/she is generally elected from every part of the country in a general election- the implication is that the whole country is his constituency whereas senators & reps represents their variuos constituencies-the meaning of this is that he (president) will always have his ways with regards to policy issues.
(d) Nigeria practices Anglo-American Jurispudence as against Continental European System- that is, an acused is presumed "INNOCENT" until otherwise proven by a court of competent jusrisdiction, whereas in some Europen state, an acused is guity until otherwise, hence some thread sayin OBJ is guity underscores high level of ignorance or hypocrisy or both.

I will contineu later.

@Segzyjoe why do we keep beating around the bush? Again the major questions remain unanswered, and we are now back to name calling? Thankfully i do have a good idea of how engineering projects work but i really don't see how that is important. Why does the idea of anybody asking the ex president questions about his term in office offend people or get them angry? I am still in disbelief. If i am sounding like a market woman then please show me were the reasoning is so flawed? I am genuinely willing to learn and understand where people with this view are coming from. The use of the word policy, so we now classify government projects as policy? Really? Really? Aren't policies meant to be guidelines? From what i understand and please do correct me if i am wrong but policies are provided guidelines on decision making and it is from policies that actions are instigated. So does that now make these actions immune to legal action? So ex governments are immune to legal action? Really? So why on earth was the EFCC created if this is true? Why?  Please unless you can quote sections of the constitution in which all that legal stuff you threw at me is stated then forgive me if i am a bit hasty to disregard it. "The president mandate is equal and superior to the National Assembly", what on earth has that got to do with if power was abused? "The president will always have his way with regards to policy issues", what on earth has that got to do with the fact that money was thrown into a sector and some people think the money needs to be justified? Why are we beating around the bush and dodging the situation? Are we practising communism whereby people cannot enquire of their public holders? I genuinely don't believe you have actually read through my posts because i keep on maintaining why it is important that questions are asked due to the shambles the country is in. You keep on going on about guilty or innocent but How on earth do we know if someone is guilty or innocent if we don't even investigate? If he is innocent then fair enough and good for him, but these responses are just shocking. Forgive my audacity to maintain that an investigation is not the worst thing in the world given the state of the country. I am sorry but i just find this whole stand against any form of investigation whatsoever so ludacris it is just . . . i am just speechless. Especially considering the state of the country i mean do you like the way things are? You haven't heard of legal actions taken against ex public officials in the states which you our system apparently copies? Really? America where public office holders are constantly under scrutiny and accountability to the people, that is where you want to compare Nigeria with? Nigeria whereby simply asking questions is getting people mad? LOL

Hey My people there is no doubt that "OBJ " have increase the level of corruption in Nigeria.

Have you guys ask yourself when will Nigerian be good Cos these whole thing is effecting us especially those of us in abroad.
Most of you that have traveled to abroad will know what I'm talking about, we are not proud to say that we are from Nigerian due to our image /record before the world.

Anyway Ask for the God help in whatever u do.
Don’t fool yourself into believing that they will make you fair. We cannot stop them without taking action against people like OBJ and Co, let them know not to use any Nigerians.

Sooner or later Nigerian Former President Olusegun Obasanjo will soon face trial in D World, , Hopefully, Yar'Adu will change its approach by becoming more cooperative.

signed by WallacE.

Please read Thru. the Minister in charge at the NIPP conceptualisation

Imoke opens up on power sector spending: Yar’Adua, Bankole misinformed!
Sunday, 11 May 2008
Says $2bn spent on NIPP; $1.2bn in CBN
Faults Reps overpayment claims
'Why we waived ‘due process’ on contracts’

Mr. Liyel Imoke was visiting the US, and I was alerted on this very fact by a mutual friend. It was my opportunity to confront him on the now vexed and very charged question of the power sector, especially given the background of the probe currently going in the House of Representatives. Imoke was chairman of the Executive Board inaugurated by former President Olusegun Obasanjo to manage the power sector, and from 2003 to 2006, was minister of power and steel, under whom the controversial National Integrated Power Project, NIPP, was established. I flew to Baltimore from St. Louis to interview Imoke and teased out important and frequently obscured perspectives on the Nigerian power sector from him. Imoke was forthcoming, and speaks for himself, in this interview, in which he defends his position in the contracts, management, and execution of the national power projects.
I’LL like to start from one first principle. And that’s this, that Nigerians are very angry over this power question. People say so much money was spent and nothing is there to show for it. And you were minister for power for a long time. What’s this story?




Speaker BankoleI was minister for three years. Just over three years. I was superintending, largely in that tenure, towards the second half of that tenure, when the focus was on the NIPP, which was designed as a fast track programme to address the problem of power supply. But I think the place to start is how much was really spent? When we talk of spending on power, how much did the Federal Government actually spend on projects aimed at improving power supply? And I think the accountant-general of the federation has given those figures. And it has been clearly stated that they’re in the region of $6 billion

But where is the $16 billion coming from?

The $16 billion is an utterance of the speaker of the House of Representatives that doesn’t seem to have any basis, with all due respect. He did not say he got it from the accountant-general; you know what I mean. So the $16 billion doesn’t exist. And if $16 billion was spent, it ought to be probed. But it was not spent. Certainly not anywhere near.
I need to be clear on this because this is very crucial. I know there are discrepancies in figures. I mean the president says $10 billion was spent, and the speaker says $16 billion…

The most authoritative source is the accountant-general of the federation. Actual spend. He was not even talking about the budget proposals or the amount allocated, you know. Actual spend. The most authoritative source in any government is the office of the accountant-general because government spends money based on warrants that are issued for expenditure to be incurred. So that is the most authoritative and most authentic source of information as to actual spend.

So, you are specifically contesting the fact? You are saying that $16 billion is figment.

Of course it is!

So how much are we talking about?

I think we are talking about $6billion, which when you consider the magnitude of the problem and the fact that your projects are incomplete, you understand. You’re probing a project that’s due for completion in 2009.

You are talking specifically about NIPP?

No, I’m talking about total spending on power.

Total spending on power, not this dedicated project called NIPP?
No.

How much was spent on NIPP?

NIPP has about $3.2 billion total spending out of the total $6 billion.

Oh okay, so this is even more interesting.

Yes. NIPP is only $3.2 billion and of that $3.2 about $1.2 billion is still sitting in letters of credit at the bank unutilized.

$1.2billion?

Yes, unutilized.


In the Nigerian Central Bank?

Yes. So only about $2 billion on NIPP. And the project is still on-going. And it’s being probed.
Now, so where is the story coming from? What is the source of the story? I mean, because we often get the impression that there is some form of coordination in the government’s accounting process. So whom should we trust?

I mean, who else would you trust? Who else but the accountant general of the federation, whose mandate and responsibility is to give accounts of Federal Government spending? Which other authority?
I find it interesting because when I see the president of the federation make a statement about money spent and he specifically mentions $10 billion, it contradicts this current claim, and I get the point that you make about the accountant general and responsibilities in government. But how did the president come up with this figure? From where did he generate it?

I believe that some of his advisers may have put together some numbers trying to make a strong case for a particular group to come in and invest or for private sector participation and the higher the figure you put out there, the higher the stake. So, what that group may have done which cost somebody his job already, he tried to clarify the money spent and he lost his job, a lot of people are forgetting that.

Now, what you’ve done is that you’ve now tried to add figures like what is generated internally by the utilities from the sale of electricity and you’re calling it spent on capital budget, it’s not correct, it is what is generated internally by the utilities, it is used to pay staff salaries, it is used for maintenance; it is used to pay for electricity that is delivered from the independent companies and it is used to pay the gratuities and pensions of staff.

Now this is all added and called, “spent on power,” okay, to make up for the $10 billion. And what the Nigerian Gas Company is spending on Nigerian Gas Company; spending on gas development projects to supply gas to the power plants is now also being added on as money spent on power. All this is now being put together to make up to the so-called $10 billion.

What you’ve just told me is that there is a lynch mob in government

Now you’re getting it, (general laughter)

And the target is the power sector?

The target is not the power sector, I wish it was but I think that - (laughter). The target is somewhere else.

But then also from the point of view of the layman, $3.2 is still a lot of money.

It is a lot of money.

It’s not sawdust

It’s not sawdust, but if $2 billion is tied up in projects that are on-going; out of the $3.2 billion you have not one project that is on-going, how will Nigerians enjoy the benefit of the project? It’s not as if the $3.2 billion was allocated and you said okay, the first $200 million, use it to complete project A and the second $200 million, use it to complete project B, the $3.2 billion is spent on 500 or so projects.

There are over 400 on-going projects that when completed will deliver the result of that investment, and I’m telling you that these projects are due for completion come 2009, okay? But they haven’t received any funding or support since May 29, that’s 2007, so …

But you do understand why Nigerians are angry, especially in the light of the statement credited to you, that we can’t expect to have full power till 2050.

I never made such a statement. I made a statement in which I said if the Nigerian economy is growing at 10 per cent per annum, and we set that as target, at the rate of current investment into the power sector, in the next fifty years we’d not have caught up.

I gave a recent example. So, we need to be spending more than the rate of our current investment in the power sector, otherwise we’ll find that with our economy - because recently I gave the example that between 1999 and 2007 - eight years; let’s say there’s been an average growth rate of five per cent, that means in those eight years, our economy has grown by 40 per cent, and our power supply has not grown by anywhere near 40 per cent, so that was the correlation I was trying to make. So, if you’re going to grow your economy, your power supply plan has to also take that into consideration, and you must plan to grow faster than 10 per cent per annum, to keep up and if you don’t do it, in 50 years, you’ll not have solved the problem.

So, here we’re faced with a certain conundrum which is that we don’t seem to have full picture or proper grasp of the power situation.

No, we don’t.

Alright, and as a result, we also don’t have full control of our power infrastructure; and it also seems like the current method of investments in the power sector might seem, to some critics, like pouring water into a massive hole.

Yes. But the government has to make a decision on whether it is going to invest in power; whether it is going to allow private sector make the investment, and allow the tariffs to become less affordable, you understand. Now, does the government have the political will to allow tariffs go to market pricing; where you have competitive prices?
But no government anywhere does that.

There’s always some form of public subvention to energy consumption.
Now, if government is not going to do that, if government will continue to invest, how government does that investment is up to it; either directly or through funding private sector, okay? Now government is looking at the option of funding private sector to deliver the service, so the government will now hand the money; the fund available to the private entities to do electricity. That’s one option.

Now, that private sector would want some guarantees because they also want to make some investments, it’s not as if the government is going to bring 100 per cent of the funds, okay, so the Federal Government has to provide some sort of fund or escrow account that guarantees, that if I can’t collect this from the consumer, that I would pay you. It’s a big challenge, it’s not like the telecoms.

And for us, where we don’t… for a country that does not have the type of access … we are talking about 40 per cent of people in Nigeria that have access to electricity. So you don’t want to come up with a policy that makes it difficult for the remaining 60 per cent to get access, you understand, because private sector is not going to put electricity in your village because the government said so, they will only do it if they see that there is a return. But coming back to the issue of power. No power station was built in Nigeria since Shiroro. The last power station ever built in Nigeria was the Shiroro Dam, which happens to be a picking station.

A picking station means that it is available, if you’re lucky, at full capacity, four to five months a year, and that was completed in 1987. And since 1987, we haven’t had one new facility.

Increasing
capacity

The same thing with Egbin. Egbin was commissioned in 1985. Even Delta Four commissioned in 1990. Now, up until that time, and after that time, through the 2000s, 10 years after that, let’s assume that our economy grew by three per cent annually, that means that in 10 years our economy has grown by 30 per cent and we have not increased our capacity by one megawatt. Not only have we not even increased our capacity by one megawatt, these are bloody machines; they break down, our maintenance capacity was low; we cannot refurbish turbines in Nigeria; we have to send them to Europe to be refurbished, even as I speak to you. So the sector was in very poor state.

In fact, when I first got into the power sector as chairman of the Technical Board, generation was at 1, 700, 1,400, okay, now Nigerians have forgotten that we got it up to 4000 by the end of 2001 going into 2002.

And, at that time, I said that we were still not going to have uninterrupted power supply, people came down on me that this man has said that there will be no uninterrupted power supply (laughs). Now, I left the sector in 2002, end of 2001 going into 2002, and, of course, minimal investment came in, because, at that time, they said, ‘okay, let us pass the electric power reform bill into law and get private sector to come in and do the business’.

The National Assembly sat on the Electric Power Sector Reform bill from 2002 till 2005. It was passed in 2005. We still have challenges. Now realizing that you can not continue to overhaul, if you look at so-called 6000 megawatts that we have, it includes the 1959 plants built in Afam, and…

That’s installed capacity?

The so-called installed capacity of 6000; it includes all the obsolete equipment and plants that can never deliver one megawatt. That 6000 megawatts includes Oji River. So when you look at the practical capacity, it is in the region of 4000. So, that’s what we tried to deliver at that time. But we also knew that it was not sustainable. First of all, we overhauled about, maybe 30 units, and got them back working, but the ones that were not overhauled were due for overhauling, and they have not been overhauled.

And they are beginning to break down. So the sector has not been funded, either by the private sector or public sector, because of this debate on whether we should privatize or not; and, of course, public sector is inefficient when it comes to management of these things, there is no doubt about that. But having said that, you have a situation where without any real investment going into the sector, gradually these units are beginning to depreciate.

Some of them are just taking themselves out: ‘hey! I’ve had it!” And they are going out. So it’s dropping. You see, you can’t blame….Unfortunately, Nigerians need to hold somebody for not having light. And it appears convenient, you know, that you can point at the man who just left, you understand what I mean, and say, ah! that man was there for eight years and he didn’t solve this problem…

Talking of which, in the media, it looks as if you are still the minister of power…

(laughs) Indeed, I’m still treated as if I’m the minister of power and steel, yes.

Which leads to my next question. How do the goings-on affect your duties? For crying out loud, you’re the executive governor of Cross River State. So, do you get to do the job that you were hired to do by the people of Cross River State?

Exactly. It’s bit of a distraction. But I think also that once you have been in public office, you should be held accountable for your own acts. I should be able to explain them. So to the extent that I have found it necessary to explain what took place in the sector, I have done that, without cost really, to my current duties as governor of Cross River State.

Some of your brother governors in the South-south have made some statements recently regarding the probes or the reviews taking place by the power committee of the House of Reps. How do you see it? Are they looking for a solution to our power problem, or are they looking for scapegoats? Does the process seem mysterious to you? I mean with all these revelations…

I don’t think that there’s any mystery to it. I think that, probably, you know,…I mean, at the risk of sounding immodest, I think the procurement processes for all our power projects under the NIPP, were probably as good as any procurement process that any government has ever embarked on in the more transparent places in the world. You of course hear there was no due process…

Now I was coming to that. Was there really transparency? Was there due process in your procurement and contract processes?

Of course there was due process! And everything I say is backed by…look, all you need to do is check the records. The adverts that we placed in the papers; those who responded to the adverts that we placed in the papers; the process for evaluating bids; the technical evaluation and pre-qualification, the financial evaluation, the public opening of bids; the bids that were selected and sent to the due process office; each one, each contract certified by the Due Process Office. Aha! And so, we went through the entire due process regime.

How then do you respond to Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala’s statements, or evidence before the committee of the House of Reps, about the waiver on payment?

About waiver on payment. Having completed your due process certification; that is you’ve met all the requirements for due process certification, the memo goes to the Federal Executive Council, which is the highest authorizing body, and receives approval, having gone through all the due process. Now, you’re supposed to go back to the Due Process Office to say, okay we received FEC approval, give us another certificate to effect payment.

That’s it. It is a bureaucracy! Now, we said, this project is fast track basis, and if each contractor, and in contract line there may be 15 to 20 payments, so if each contractor has to go back to the Due Process Office 15 to 20 times, and it takes one month for him to get a certificate for payment, and due process certificates for payment are not recognized in international financial transactions; so if you open your letter of credit, HSBC or JP Morgan are not looking for your due process certificate for payment from the due process office.

So if all this is going to constitute a bottleneck, why can’t we waive this, since we were opening letters of credit? Because the contractor can’t get paid unless he achieves a certain milestone. You can hold the international bank responsible for making a payment if the contractor has not achieved a contractual milestone.

So the waiver was tied to?

To those payments going back and forth

So, it was not an arbitrary process?

No!

Okay. So, here is a question that I, and I think most Nigerians are very interested in. How much was paid to contractors, and how much work was done, given the waivers?

Each contractor gets 25 per cent advance payment, but to get that 25 per cent advance payment, you must come with a bond from a first class bank; an advance payment guarantee, which has very strict terms. So that if he applies the funds, because when he brings his advance payment guarantee, the funds are paid to the bank; they are domiciled to the bank; so if the contractor collects 25 per cent from the bank and doesn’t perform, the federal government has a guarantee from the bank and can call the guarantee up, and get back their money.

Easily. So the banks themselves being very aware of this, have hardly released this money to the contractors; they keep the money and actually vet, to see what the contractors are procuring and what is being executed; because the funds are released by the federal government to the banks in the name of the contractor.

Now, if, well, I’d hold you by your words that the process was transparent.

Yes.

Okay. Taking a look back, if you were to reassess every process that went into decisions about the design, and the implementation of projects under your watch, what would you not do in the same ways, or what would you do differently? Is there anything that you would do differently?


I’ve been in the sector for a while. I was in the sector at the Executive Board. I was minister in 2003 and NIPP started, 2005. So I had a enough time to understand the sector. Now, we implemented the project at what we thought was the best cost, and the most realizable programme we could come up with. Most projects in Nigeria are effected on a turn-key basis. So you bring one contractor, either a Siemens or an Alscon, and they design the station, and they build the complete turn-key contract; they do the entire thing. You just fold your arms and they deliver the project.


The only problem is that they are delivering it at about fifty percent more in expense. Now a lot of these projects were in the Niger Delta areas where the gas is, because we decided to locate them close to the source of gas. And the GEs were not ready to now go and engage in the construction, in the Niger Delta. So, we had to separate equipment supply and engineering procurement and supply. So it’s not a turn-key contract. The turn-keys would have cost us more, and we probably would not have delivered anything any differently.

And so to me, I think that we took the best approach; and what we need to do for a project like this is to have tremendous political will to deliver the project. If you have tremendous political will, you can drive it; because there are challenges. The challenges the NIPP faces are not challenges of how much was spent, it is a challenge of not being able to fund a few things. Basically, with another $500m, you could probably complete the project. So, why? Where does the money go to, the $500m?


And comments from readers of the article:


Character Assasination
Written by M.B.A.AyoxThis e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , on 11-05-2008 17:53 , IP: 64.136.27.228
Wow! This seems very analytical and informative. If only our people will give the truth a chance. But no. All they want is a scapegoat and ALL that the media want is headlines to grab readers / listeners whether factual or not. When you listen to Mr. Governor on the Power Sector Issue and Mallam El-Rufai on the FCT issue, You wonder why we are persecuitng the Consciencious amongst us? Also, can our press do a little bit of investgative jounalism instead of being a willingly tool of people with ulterior motives? They need to empathize with the people they are spreading lies, half truths and character assasinations about. If we want people of integrity to answer the call of service to the nation.

Peace.

M. B. A. Ayox.
2 I believe you, but,
Written by Mohammed SadiqThis e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , on 12-05-2008 08:42 , IP: 217.194.157.134
I sincerely commend Senator Imoke for having the strength of mind to clarify these issues whereever and whenever the opportunity comes up.
I believe him that there is a group of (political) power brokers that want to paint the activities of the past administration on power black - a sort of giving a dog bad name in order to get it hung. It is still the same people who \'manufactured\' figures and put it forward to the present administration to mislead it into making drastic decisions to be regretted later.
I also believe him that the method of procurement for the NIPP projects are justified. Due Process Certification was obtained from the BMPIU Office of the Presidency, sometimes at the detriment of the pace of work on these projects - and I HAVE PROOF to this effect.
My only problem with Senator Imoke is the manner with which he decided to DUMP the brilliant, hardworking and loyal Engineers that spent hours and hours, deserting family and social life, spending unending nights in the office to ensure the success of this project, without justifyable method of compensation.
These people were ordinary civil servants who eschewed bitter working conditions because of their belief in this project and its outcome, and worked harder than ever before because of the leadership potential that Sen. Imoke has initially demonstrated.
They thought they were selected among their colleagues to be outstanding, to deliver outstanding performance to an outstanding achievement. But at the end of the day, they ended up a laughing stock among colleagues - without renumerative compensation. All because Sen Imoke \'forgot\' to set up a compensation structure for them.
3 Thanks Imoke for speaking out
Written by Boboye EricThis e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , on 12-05-2008 10:25 , IP: 41.220.117.106
Yar'dua and Bankole should not act on what they have been told but investigate to make sure that whatever statement or action they take truthful.
4 Mr.
Written by Dickson OnyiaThis e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , on 12-05-2008 10:54 , IP: 134.146.0.22
I know certainly that the power probe'll be on voice mail soon.If Bankole doesn't have bases don't forget that Govt.expenses are approved by the National assembly,or if a project is said to be completed in 2009 is there any reason to abandon it in 2008?You so called leaders should be up and doing don't ever think that Nigerians are fools cos we don't want to die.But I must state here that there was no proper feasibility study of the said project before it was embarked upon otherwise there is ultirior motive somewhere,if not there is no reason whatsoever for project that is said to be completed in 2009 to be abandonmed in 2008.
5 Power probe? Yes, but ,
Written by John Odey OkacheThis e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , on 12-05-2008 12:28 , IP: 196.207.13.140
I think the present govt is probe-happy but the power situation in Nigeria is worsening by the day. It is necessary to probe the previous govt for accountability but probing is not one of the functions of govt. Present govt should solve the energy crisis without further delay, or else continue to probe its predecessor till eternity.Nigerians voted so govt would help them catch fish and not to spend a four-year term loosening highly knotty and intertwined fishing net.
6 Too much of ignorance
Written by Kurgo Sherengbe Ayuba writing This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , on 13-05-2008 00:14 , IP: 77.102.194.74
I think though many Nigerians climed to be educated, yet we hardly can see rational thinking in their submission on this matter of power probe. People say all kind of things but the fact remains that the authenticity of the allegations has not been yet established. When a matter is an allegation, we should not run fast in our conclusion. The honourables in the house of reps must be careful because this may mare their political carreer if it turns our to be a farce. Objectivity must be maintained and they cannot conclusively determined whether or not there are corruptions in this project until a full investigation has been done and that too has been scrutinized by a judiciary process and found to be indeed fraudulent. As we listen to the reps, we must also listen to those involved as players. Let us know with evidences how much was involved, all those making noise are not accounting officers nor auditors, so we must be careful in taking every information hook. lime and sinker.
7 What is Imoke talking about?
Written by owolabiThis e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , on 13-05-2008 07:06 , IP: 92.12.39.222
Baldadash! That is what Imoke is saying.Some of his submissions here were not expressed at the Probe Panel Enquiry, so it is double-speak.
8 Sublime analysis
Written by Jide Oluwafemi, on 13-05-2008 08:21 , IP: 208.74.114.90
This is a sublime analysis of activities of a viable project, i hope the touts in House of Assembly will able to comprehend it.

They need to go back to school like OBJ did, he is more brainy than all of them from what i read from his letter to the House.

Look before you leap, Elumelu
9 Always refreshing
Written by tunde belloThis e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , on 13-05-2008 18:33 , IP: 213.181.87.74
I tried to follow senator Imoke"s submissions at the Elumelu panel.After reading today"s interview, I can"t help but feel that Yar'Adua"s government is content to go on a wild goose chase whilst the nation lies postrate in utter darkness.Please, senator, use your PDP connection to make the President get a move on and fix our power sector.
10 Proud of you, Gov. Imoke
Written by Fr. Victor OwanThis e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , on 15-05-2008 05:36 , IP: 24.29.227.25
Having just read the interview with Gov. Liyel Imoke, I couldn't hold back congratulating him for such thorough and clean, as well as honest answers to all the questions asked. Without any bias, I have always known him (though from a distance) to be a man of integrity and uprightness. He's one Nigerian within the corridor of power that I am proud of. Keep up the good work, Gov.
Fr. Victor Owan

@Ovamboland thanks a lot for that post. That was probably the most relevant and insightful post on the whole power issue, especially with the whole funding issue. I hope all this was said in the house of reps committee hearing in order to advance and fast track the whole proceedings and fiasco. I mean, even he said that he expected to be held accountable afte leaving office as a public holder so why was there so much anger on the thread about enquiring and asking people to be held accountable? LOL. If we have a situation whereby banks are (understandably) scared to release funds to the contractors then i think we might need a review of that process. And this people, this is one of the reasons FOI bill is needed so that we won't need to go through a probe before people get informed. I have been following this thing and i did not even know that the projects were due for completion in 2009. Considering the ammount of money and the history of governance in Nigeria the public should be kept informed about all these things and the information should be easily accessed. So if this guy was not interviewed would we have known all of this? Thanks again for your post Ovamboland. I genuinely believe that what needs to be done now is to provide tight management of funding for these projects, reduce the bureacracy involved with the management of these projects and invest even more money in the power sector via awarding contracts for new projects including exploring the using the coal in Enugu etc. I really do wish Yaradua will wake up to the need for things like this to be done and get more agressive in the development of the power sector. Also this whole problem with release of funds to contractors needs to be addressed seriously and if required then a different system needs to be put in place.

I don't know why things like this bother you guys, they are all international thief thief and corrupt to the core.

Sorry, connection problems made me send the post twice

Different versions, same story.

@ Sky Blue

We are all agreed on one thing which is that, power supply situation must improve in Nigeria.

The indignation felt by some posters is because they see through the altruistic posture of the probe panel to serve a plate of humiliation to the past president. It is obvious the panel did not do it's home work properly before making public assertions which were later proven to be untrue. A little more circumspection on their part would have made the exercise , necessary as it is, more worthwhile.

It is obvious they over-reached themselves with that invitation and have since gone on the defensive with OBJ's written reply. It seems they had nothing specific to ask him which only him could answer.

Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong in asking past leaders to answer before duly constituted bodies about their activities in power. But you will agree a lot of circumspection is required.

Let's ask the probe panel members how they voice voted when the FOI bill was debated in the house, 'nay'  or 'aye'.

Passing that bill would have made most of the circus and comic relief they carried quite unnecessary. You and me would have been able to aascertainthe facts they were trying to get at or probe for by simply making a trip to an FOI commission office , present my national ID and get a copy of the planned schedule, planned cost and other information as regards the power projects.