Fashola tasks judiciary on need to fast-track cases on power projects

Minister of power works and housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola, while delivering a goodwill message yesterday at the workshop for judicial officers on the Nigeria energy/power sector in Abuja has challenged judicial officials on the way cases are framed in courts, so that Nigerian would be able to realize the social and economic benefits of such projects.
He said, since coming on board, his office have had to deal with many litigations, with grave consequences on manpower lost, youth unemployment and lost in revenue that would have accrued to government and other actors are being denied them.
He noted that despite all these frustrations, Government is still strongly committed to rule of law, separation of power and respect for the judiciary, and would rather appeal that these challenges are resolved in order to ensure a better and steady power supply in the country.
He observed that the theme of the workshop “Emerging legal and Policy Reforms in the Petroleum and Power sectors of Nigeria” has aptly captured the goal of achieving appreciable growth with availability of steady energy/electricity supply through the removal of legal bottle necks in an industry that is largely a private sector driven now at a fledging state.