Leadership (Abuja)
Philip Nyam
27 March 2008
The House of Representatives investigation into the $16 billion expended on the power sector re-opens today with the former finance minister, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, and her solid minerals counterpart, Dr Oby Ezekwesili, expected to appear before the panel to give account of their stewardship in the sector during the Obasanjo administration.
Both Okonjo-Iweala and Ezekwesili, who were to testify before the committee last week but could not make it to the panel, are working as managing director and vice president (Africa) of the World Bank respectively.
Their expected appearance before the committee today, LEADERSHIP reliably gathered, was sequel to a letter written by a team of lawyers from Streamsowers and Kolin expressing the willingness of the former ministers to appear before the panel and requested for details of the public hearing.
Okonjo-Iweala was minister of finance for over three years and later moved to the Foreign Affairs Ministry where she finally threw in the towel.
Ezekwesili was the pioneer director general of the Bureau for Price Monitoring and Intelligence Unit (BMPIU), popularly known as Due Process Office, before her elevation as minister in charge of education and later solid minerals.
Ezekwesili is alleged to have played a vital role in the unbundling of the then National Electric Power Authority (NEPA), now Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN). She was reported to have said that the government of Obasanjo expended only $3 billion on the power sector.
The former ministers, who were members of Obasanjo's economic team, are expected to provide answers on how much the administration spent on the power sector and whether due process was followed in the award of contracts and how payments were approved.
During the seven-day public hearing, the committee was told that Obasanjo waived due process in favour of payments as well as approved anticipating payments for power projects.
Meanwhile, the probe committee has been inundated with calls from members of the public urging it to summon Obasanjo and his erstwhile vice president Atiku Abubakar to explain to Nigerians how the sector was managed in their hey- days.
A member of the committee, Hon. Patrick Obahiagbor, had recently said the panel would not shy away from inviting any person if there is need for that.
He said if at any time the committee discovers that there is need for the former president to appear, they will not hesitate to summon him.
The committee, which is expected to submit its findings to the House on April 8, 2008 will soon embark on an on the spot assessment of all power stations and contracts' sites awarded under the National Integrated Power projects (NIPP) scheme.
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