Why I'm wary of funding power sector —Yar'Adua PDF Print E-mail
Written by Ben Agande
Monday, 14 January 2008


PRESIDENT Umaru Yar’Adua, yesterday, regretted that while the last administration spent over “$10 billion between 2000 and 2007" on the power sector, there was nothing concrete on ground to show for the huge investment.

It is this lack of progress that has made his government wary of committing more funds to the sector, he said.

Receiving the Vice President of the World Bank (Africa), Mrs Obiageli Ezekwesili, in his office, President Yar’Adua said while government was working hard to sort out and pool together the numerous projects in the power sector to achieve a short-term target of at least 6000MW by 2009, it was, however, not willing to make further monetary commitment as this would not make sense.

“While we are targeting 6000MW by 2009, the $10bn invested in the sector between 2000 and 2007 has not translated into power generation, transmission and distribution, so we are exercising caution to ensure that any further funds to the sector would translate into production and delivery of energy to the ordinary Nigerian,” he said.

President Yar’Adua said he had deliberately decided not to earmark money for power in the 2008 Appropriation Bill because he was wary of injecting funds that could end up not achieving the targeted result.

“I have told the leadership of the National Assembly that the Federal Government will inject its share of the excess crude account into power and the states have also assured me of what they will put in.

Even if all these funds come in today, I will warehouse it until we get a clear direction hopefully within the next one month after which I will send a supplementary appropriation bill specifically on power to the National Assembly,” he said.

Assuring the World Bank Vice President that Government was ready to address all the problems associated with power, President Yar’Adua, said “but more dollars will not provide light, unless we find a project management solution.”

He identified lack of adequate gas supply and where available, the absence of transmission facilities as the two major problems confronting the Independent Power Plants.

The President drew attention to efforts to provide power through the Independent Power Projects, Joint Venture Power Projects and licences issued to Independent Power Providers, stressing that government was prepared to fund only those projects that had secure sources of gas supply.

Speaking with State House correspondents after leading a delegation from General Electric Company to a meeting with the president, Economic Adviser to the President, Dr Tanimu Kurfi, said $40 billion was needed to revive the power sector, adding that the Federal Government lacked the capability to generate the funds on its own.

He said: “Mr. President was never in doubt that the Federal Government does not at the moment have the capacity to provide the funding required for overcoming this critical infrastructure gap estimated at, at least $40 billion in the next four years.

“And even if that money was available, the ideological push which was initiated by the last administration, and which this administration has endorsed, is the need to ensure private sector participation to ensure that the managerial talent which is not necessarily at its best with public sector participation is given the opportunity to show what it can do for this country as we march towards Vision 20 2020,” he said.

Dr Kurfi said the Federal Government was exploring ways of ensuring judicious use of money in the power sector through private-public partnership

If Mr.President is in doubt of what his immediate predecessor did while he was in office, I should think that in the spirit of the rule of law,he should call for a judicial probe into the activites of that government. Nigerians have been deceived enough.No rational being will believe that as much as $10b was spent on power and no suburb in any of the states could boast of one hour uninterpruted power supply. Queensland, one of the states in Australia is twice bigger than Nigeria as a country.Yet, power supply is not an issue in the Australian polity.Today, they have passed the threshold of power and water, they are on global warming.They weren't better than Nigeria during the 50's.Nigerians have been deceived enough.

Echidime:

If Mr.President is in doubt of what his immediate predecessor did while he was in office, I should think that in the spirit of the rule of law,he should call for a judicial probe into the activites of that government. Nigerians have been deceived enough.No rational being will believe that as much as $10b was spent on power and no suburb in any of the states could boast of one hour uninterpruted power supply. Queensland, one of the states in Australia is twice bigger than Nigeria as a country.Yet, power supply is not an issue in the Australian polity.Today, they have passed the threshold of power and water, they are on global warming.They weren't better than Nigeria during the 50's.Nigerians have been deceived enough.

He will definitely have to probe the man at some point or shut up and focus on doing his job sparing us all the whining about the past if he is not willing to do something about it.