Nigeria: House Committee On Power And the Burden of History

17 March 2008
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Lagos — In the last couple of weeks, disconcerting stories have emerged about government contractors walking off with apparent ease, having collected hefty contract mobilisation sums. Prominent sectors in which these have occurred are roads and the power sector, the latter currently under oversight scrutiny by the House of Representatives.

The sums mentioned are staggering. The disclosures concerning the power sector, in particular the National Integrated Power Projects, boggle the mind. The testimonies of Benue, Taraba and Lagos State Governors Gabriel Suswam, Danbaba Suntai and Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN last week at the investigative hearing by the House Committee on Power and Steel bring out the same message: the monies deducted from the Excess Crude Account are not commensurate with what is presently on ground. Essentially, the money it seems has been misapplied. Also, some contractors who had been paid various colossal sums for transmission lines had failed to do so over the last eight years. Even the Minister of State for Power (Energy) confirmed to the panel that some contractors had simply collected money then vanished, possibly I might add, into thin air.

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