• Friday, March 29, 2024
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How power cut disrupted power probe in Abuja

Electricity

For those familiar with local parlance, “Power pass power” is a song mostly performed in fastest growing churches in Nigeria, wherein a firebrand pastor leads his congregation by dancing aggressively on the altar. The song depicts Jesus’ admonition in John 10:10 that even though “The thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy, I have come in order that you might have life – life in all its fullness”.

Usually, the pastor encourages the congregation to dance away their sorrow by stamping their feet on the ground and clapping rigorously to send a warning signal to the enemies that no matter their braggadocio, there is a superior power.

The above scenario played out on the second day of the Senate probe into the alleged corruption in the power sector, as the exercise was marred by intermittent power outages.

Just as stakeholders in the power sector took turns to make their presentations, there were power cuts seven times within a space of one hour, 16 minutes; forcing Abubakar Kyari, chairman, Senate Adhoc Committee on Power, to ask the chief executives of power firms present at the venue: “Are you guys calling your people to do this?”

Specifically, there were power outages at 2:13pm; 2:27pm; 2:31pm; 3:10pm; 3:12pm; 3:16 to 3:26pm and 3:29 to 3:43pm.

The situation forced senators to use the light in their mobile phones to provide illumination in the hall, in addition to video camera lights and rechargeable lamps brought into the venue.
The investigative exercise was witnessed by bigwigs in the power sector, including the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Power, Godknows Igali; Director General, Bureau of Public Enterprise, Benjamin Dikki; Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Electric Regulatory Commission (NERC), Sam Amadi; chief executives of generation and distribution companies as well as members of the Senate Adhoc Committee on Power.

Explaining the capital intensive nature in the sector, Amadi told the Committee that 1MW of electricity costs $1million, which when converted to naira at an exchange rate of N218 to the dollar amounts to N218million per Megawatts. The Commission, according to him, has so far licensed about 114 companies to generate power and aims to attract 2,000 to 4,000 MW annually. Representatives of the various generation and distribution companies decried the difficult business environment in the country, a situation the Committee Chairman admitted, had forced multinational companies to leave Nigeria for neighbouring countries.

Speaking on behalf of distribution companies, Managing Director, Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC), Robert Dickerman, said the Federal Government reneged on its promise to inject N100billion as subsidy to the distribution and generation companies, adding that distribution companies operate at N20billion deficit monthly. He expressed regret that they were not allowed to charge tariffs that would help them recoup part of their investments in the sector.

“We are also aware that some of our staff collect N5, 000 from consumers who are stealing power to write off some bills, we are working to stop all that,” Dickerman admitted.
Reacting to the intermittent power outages, Kyari told a handful of journalists who approached him after the exercise that the Committee would investigate the remote and immediate cause of the outage to determine if it was “deliberate or not”.

Curiously, there were no outages long hours after the exercise ended, as electricity became as constant as the northern star at the National Assembly Complex.

Despite claims by Igali that power generation in the country has increased from 1,750 Megawatts (MW) in 1999 to 4,600 till date, senators relayed tales of their excruciating experiences with what they termed ‘epileptic power supply in Nigeria’. For instance, a member of the Committee, Ighoyota Amori (Delta Central) repeatedly told stakeholders that Mosogar community in his constituency had been without power for the past six months, saying DISCOS and GENCOS expected him to buy the transformer and all the needed equipment to fix the problem since he is now a senator. Asking if it was right for individuals to contribute money to buy transformers in their areas, he said: “If they want me to do it with my money, I will borrow money from the bank and do it”.

Also, Kyari told the gathering that his own residence in Abuja had been running on mostly diesel for the past three months due to epileptic power supply.
Statistics obtained from the website of the Ministry of Power as of Thursday, September 10, puts Peak Generation at 4,251.7

MEGAWATTS (MW); Peak Demand Forecast at 12,800 MEGAWATTS (MW), with Highest Peak Generated at 4,810.7 MW as of August 25, 2015.

While the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), says it generated additional 2,850 MW in its 16 years in power, Publicity Secretary, All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos State, Joe Igbokwe ridiculed the umbrella party, saying in just 100 days in office, APC had already met investors that promised to generate 5,000 MW in five years. The APC chieftain attributed the current stable power supply in most parts of the country to what he called “The Buhari factor”. But the Publicity Secretary, PDP Lagos State, Taofeek Gani, described Igbokwe’s comments as ‘reckless’, wondering why the ruling party would claim glory for PDP’s achievement. The Buhari administration, he maintained, is yet to announce an economic blueprint, let alone build a single power plant since assumption of office over three months ago.

Following Kyari’s clarification on the opening day of the probe that a public hearing would be held at a later date, observers say the disruption of activities at the second day of the probe was meant to sabotage the committee’s efforts and give them a sign of things to expect in the future.

Coincidentally, two hours before the Committee’s second sitting, a former lawmaker, Ndudi Elumelu, warned the Committee members to be wary of powerful individuals, whom he said, would thwart their efforts. He recalled how he relocated his family abroad due to threat to their lives, saying powerful individuals threatened to put him behind bars for ‘stepping on toes’.

According to him, contractors will send emissaries to bribe and blackmail committee members.

As insurance executive-cum-lawmaker, Elumelu came to national limelight as the Chairman, House of Representatives adhoc committee that investigated the investments of the Federal Government in the power sector during the President Olusegun Obasanjo administration in 2007.

The federal lawmaker expressed shock at the N2.74trillion said to have been spent in the power sector in the last 16 years, adding that over N2.9 trillion was spent in the sector between

1999 and 2007 alone. He therefore, called on the Senate Committee to look into his report and commence its probe from 2007 to 2015.
His words: “I am happy that the Senate has taken it upon themselves. If as at between 1999 and 2007, $13.2billion were said to have been assessed out of the $16billion, if you convert that to the rate level of N218 (per Dollar), you will be talking about N2.9 trillion. That is between 1999 and 2007.
“If they want the truth, my report is in eight volumes. They don’t need to do any other job between 1999 to 2007. They should look at 2007 to 2015 and they will just add it up. And that will give them an insight because we didn’t dilute it and we were very blunt”.

For him, some cabals are feeding fat on the epileptic power supply in the country. “There is no reason why after spending $13.2billion (in 2007) and we are still talking about 3,500 MW. Brazil spent only $12billion and they have 12,000 MW of electricity. So, why can’t we have same”? he wondered.
However, political watchers have dismissed Elumelu’s submission due to his alleged involvement in N5.2 billion rural electrification contract fraud and his N750million bribe to top-ranking members of PDP National Working Committee (NWC) to become the governor of Delta State on PDP’s platform in the build-up to the last general elections.
As the nation awaits the Committee to conduct proper public hearing on the matter, analysts believe such probes are unnecessary, as their recommendations may end up in the dustbin just like previous exercises.

Elder statesman and member, PDP Board of Trustees, Ebenezer Babatope, belongs to this school-of-thought. He is of the opinion that the various ongoing probes in the country would not solve the country’s problems.

He said: “Our revered sage, the late Obafemi Awolowo, said that probes will never solve the problems of any nation. Those who engage in probes will soon discover the futility of their actions.”

OWEDE AGBAJILEKE