Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has reacted to the
recent call by President Buhari for a probe of the $16 billion spent on power
during the 16-year PDP rule. President Buhari at the APC presidential rally in
Bayelsa state on Tuesday February 12th, hinted that there will be probe on all
the past governments involed in the $16 billion power project.
Reacting to the call for the probe, Obasanjo in a
statement released by his media aide, Kehinde Akinyemi, said the request for a
probe on the power project is borne out of ignorance.
In the statement, the former president said he
had given a detailed account of how the money was spent for the power
project in his widely read book, My Watch, and that if President Buhari cannot
read it, he should get one of his aides to read it and interprete in a language
best suitable. Read the statement below
”It has come to the attention of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo
that a statement credited to President Muhammadu Buhari, apparently without
correct information and based on ignorance, suggested that $16 billion was
wasted on power projects by “a former President.
“We believe that the President was re-echoing the
unsubstantiated allegation against Chief Obasanjo by his own predecessor but
one.
“While it is doubtful that a President with proper
understanding of the issue would utter such, it should be pointed out that
records from the National Assembly had exculpated President Obasanjo of any
wrong-doing concerning the power sector and has proved the allegations as
false.
“For the records, Chief Obasanjo has addressed the issues of
the power sector and the allegations against him on many occasions and
platforms, including in his widely publicised book, “My Watch” in which he
exhaustively stated the facts and reproduced various reports by both the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which conducted a clinical
investigation into the allegations against Chief Obasanjo, and the Ad-Hoc
Committee on the Review of the Recommendations in the Report of the Committee
on Power on the Investigation into how the Huge Sums Of Money was Spent on
Power Generation, Transmission And Distribution between June 1999 and May 2007
without Commensurate Result.
“”We recommend that the President and his co-travellers
should read Chapters 41, 42, 43 and 47 of My Watch for Chief Obasanjo’s
insights and perspectives on the power sector and indeed what transpired when
the allegation of $16 billion on power projects was previously made.
“If he cannot read the three-volume book, he should detail
his aides to do so and summarise the chapters in a language that he will easily
understand.
“”In the same statement credited to the President, it was
alleged that there was some bragging by Chief Obasanjo over $16 billion spent
on power. To inform the uninformed, the so-called $16 billion power expenditure
was an allegation against Chief Obasanjo’s administration and not his claim.
“The President also queried where the power generated is.
The answer is simple: The power is in the seven National Integrated Power
Projects and eighteen gas turbines that Chief Obasanjo’s successor who
originally made the allegation of $16 billion did not clear from the ports for
over a year and the civil works done on the sites.
“”Chief Obasanjo challenges, and in fact encourages, anybody
to set up another enquiry if in doubt and unsatisfied with the EFCC report and
that of the Hon. Aminu Tambuwal-led ad-hoc committee.”