N11trn power sector sinkhole

According to a report by the NGO Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), N11trillion intended for development of this country’s power sector may have been squandered by past administrations since 1999. The report which is titled “From Darkness to Darkness: How Nigerians are Paying the Price For Corruption the Electricity Sector” said N20 trillion might […]

According to a report by the NGO Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), N11trillion intended for development of this country’s power sector may have been squandered by past administrations since 1999. The report which is titled “From Darkness to Darkness: How Nigerians are Paying the Price For Corruption the Electricity Sector” said N20 trillion might be further wasted in the next decade, given the rate of profligacy by government through series of misguided investment initiatives. 

According to the report, the figure comprises the total of public funds, private equity as well as social investments [and divestments]. SERAP’s report was presented to the public recently in Lagos. Against the backdrop of public concern over the unending paralysis of the nation’s electricity sector and the huge sums poured into it over the years, SERAP’s report is important for its graphic and incisive appraisal of its subject matter. The report eloquently corroborates Nigerians’ suspicion that from any perspective it is viewed, this country’s power sector is a sinkhole, a bottomless pit which generates no additional value no matter what resources are poured into it. 

At the inception of every administration military or civilian, the power sector was designated as a priority area. Yet by the time administrations exit from office, the sector was either where it was or had even sunk to a lower level.  However, the period 1999 to 2015 which marked the tenures of Olusegun Obasanjo, Umaru Yar’adua and Goodluck Jonathan coincided with the period when the greatest amounts in public funds were devoted to power, with such pitiable results. This much was highlighted in the report which provided empirical evidence on the scope of mismanagement of funds for the sector by the various administrations during the period under consideration. 

For instance, according to the 65 page report, the rot started with the Dr Ransome Owan-led board of the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), which was to kick-start reforms in the sector in 2003. All it achieved was little beyond settling its members with millions of naira in largely unearned severance packages. The report avers that the Obasanjo administration spent $10 billion on the National Integrated Power Project (NIPP) and another $13billion in the sector in eight years. Yet there were no tangible results as there was no increase in electricity power supply to the country. 

The report also highlighted the failure of the Liyel Imoke led reform initiative which claimed N16 billion, with little or nothing to show for it. The foregoing is separate from the issue of him personally collecting $7.8m for the execution of Jos to Yola Transmission Line, which was never done. Also mentioned in the report is the outrage executed by Professor Chinedu Nebo who as Minister of Power handed over the sector’s critical assets under the watch of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) to private investors on November 1 2013, and in circumstances that were in breach of due diligence. Not surprisingly the report called for a probe of Professor Nebo’s tenure with a view to recovering any diverted funds and prosecuting whoever is found culpable. 

It is no mystery therefore that the series of reforms initiated for this country’s power sector contained inbuilt features for degrading it. Hence none seemed to provide traction for moving it forward. That is why the current administration needs to address itself more assertively to the weaknesses in the system especially as the SERAP report has unearthed. It is unmistakeable that a strong cartel is dominating the sector and impeding the series of reforms for it. The starting point for the administration therefore is to read the riot act with respect to all forms of breaches in the sector including the apprehension of all culprits involved in its woes. Nigerians demand no less.