Abuja — The controversial invitation to former president Olusegun Obasanjo on the power probe has finally been withdrawn following the intervention of prominent leaders in the country, THISDAY learnt last night.

Obasanjo may now answer questions arising from the probe in private and outside the chambers of the National Assembly, THISDAY checks also revealed.

This compromise was brokered by prominent Nigerians, some of whom are believed to be former heads of state. Obasanjo had objected to the manner the House of Representatives Committee on Power and Steel invited him to appear before it to answer questions on expenditure on the power sector during his tenure.

THISDAY was informed last night that after the ex-president's failure to turn up yesterday, the House has written to withdraw the invitation. The withdrawal "is intended to avoid desecrating the office of the president", a source told THISDAY.

"It is not about Obasanjo. It is about the office and stature of a former president of this country. It would set a bad president to put him in the dock at the National Assembly and subject him to the kind of questioning that former ministers have been subjected to in the last few months," he said.

The source said "nothing has changed on the investigations, but something has changed in the way the matter will be approached."

The invitation letter had been signed by "one Sahmed" (in Obasanjo's words), instead of the Speaker or the Clerk of the National Assembly, as protocol demands.

Obasanjo objected to the "disregard" for his age and position, and wondered why a letter dated May 3, 2008 only got to him six days later. Yesterday in his letter to the committee, the ex-president said his failure to appear as he earlier promised was because he became slightly indisposed after preparing his presentation. He, however, forwarded the text of the presentation along with a letter to the committee through his Special Assistant, Mr. Taiwo Ojo.

Ex-VP Atiku Abubakar also did not appear before the committee yesterday but wrote again to the panel, saying he had no information to offer on the inquiry. THISDAY had reported on Monday the text of Obasanjo's perspectives on the power situation where he put the amount of money spent on the power sector during his tenure in the region of $6.5 billion.

The former Finance minister, Mrs. Esther Nenadi Usman, who appeared before the committee said the former Minister of Power and Steel, Senator Liyel Imoke, asked for due process waiver on the power projects and was granted.

The House Committee on Power and Steel probing the expenses on the power sector from 1999 to 2007 had summoned both Obasanjo and Atiku to appear before it at 10 am yesterday. But in a letter to the Chairman of the committee, Hon. Ndudi Elumelu, dated May 11 and read yesterday on the floor of the House, the former president said he personally wanted to respond to the invitation but did not want to hold up the committee.

Obasanjo said: "Since I have on my own decided to respond to your invitation, I do not intend to hold you up. I have a fairly comprehensive written presentation which I am sending to your committee through my Special Assistant, Mr. Taiwo Ojo.

"You will note in the paper my strong desire to personally present the insights and perspectives of mine on power situation.

"I hope the presentation will satisfy the unspecified allegations, counter allegations, and approvals that you referred to in your letter of invitation in addition to the insights and perspectives.

"If, however, there are other points that you want me to elucidate on, I will appropriately, if you will let me know." Obasanjo's letter was read by Elumelu.

Elumelu did not say anything specifically on Obasanjo's letter and on whether the committee would or would not further press the issue of Obasanjo's invitation. But the House is scheduled to go into an executive session today to resolve the matter and other issues threatening to tear its leadership apart.

Atiku, in his letter, told the committee that he had since realised that his presence would no longer be needed by the panel. The former vice-president in the letter he sent to the committee last night said he was already out of the country when the invitation arrived.

He said: "I have tried without success to book a flight back last weekend. I was only able to get a confirmed seat for Tuesday, May 13, 2008 (today). But I have since found out that my presence would no longer be needed at the committee hearing."

He said he had to go into details to show the high regard in which he held the lawmakers and the importance attached to their oversight function.

Atiku said: "If we as a nation must make progress, we must constantly review and reappraise the past to determine where we are, where we want to be and whether the actions we have taken will get us there. I have no problem whatsoever with any arm of government wanting to know what happened during our tenure of office especially if such inquiry will help our country.

"This is why I enthusiastically support the efforts being made by the National Assembly to audit the past and seek clarifications about past policies and actions. It is your constitutional duty."

The former vice-president explained that he was in no position to offer useful information on the emergency power projects because he was not involved in them.

"It is clear from all of the revelations made in the course of the public hearing that there was no allegation against me as the former vice-president in person or office," he said.

On what he knew about the power projects, Atiku told the committee that, "The policy of the Federal Government's Emergency Power Projects in the year 2004 was informed by the need to take emergency steps to improve the power situation in Nigeria.

"It was generally accepted by the three tiers of government at that time that the country faced a crisis situation of power supply. Against this background, the Federal Executive Council approved the setting up of two Committees to address the problem: (i) The Steering Committee on Emergency Power Projects chaired by the then Minister of Power, Liyel Imoke and; (ii) The Implementation Committee made up of one representative governor from each of the six geo-political zones, chaired by the then Vice President, Atiku Abubakar.

"In that committee, there were also governors representing each of the states in which the projects were located. In addition, there was one governor from each state in which there was similar or associated project. The Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON) and chairmen of the House and Senate Committees on Power were included as members," he said.

Atiku also revealed that, "The Steering committee, which was a Ministerial Committee, was assigned to work under and to report to the Implementation Committee. But this was not to be. After the first and the second meeting of the Implementation Committee, it ceased to function.

"In those two meetings, the Implementation Committee did not receive any report from the Steering Committee, nor was it invited to approve any projects." The former vice-president, however, stated that "The Emergency Power project initiative was something we should have done much earlier in the administration. For me, it was a welcome development when we eventually came to grips with it. I advocated it. "In view of the scope and resources involved, it required close monitoring and that was how I perceived my role when I was made chairman," he said.

He said: "When the President on his own made me the chairman of the Implementation Commi-ttee, it was certainly in recognition of the fact it was an important national project. The project was massive, the cost was enormous and the logistics were horrendous. As a matter of fact, we agreed with the President in the National Economic Council that the electricity supply situation in the country was dismal and that an urgent intervention was necessary."

On her part, Usman told the committee that she could have washed her hands "like the Pontius Pilate. But I knew and if I had done it, it would have been treacherous of me to say that I did not know. I was a minister and was part of the council that approved the contracts." She denied receiving any letter from the committee other than the one dated May 3rd 2008.

On whether she approved payments for the contracts and if the establishment of the Excess Crude Account was legitimate, she said "as former Finance Minister, yes I did. When I took over I did approve in addition to the ones approved by my predecessor before I came in.

"I wouldn't know. Because I'm not a lawyer. When it was set up I mean the Due Process. I was a Minister of state. I knew that the former president had meetings with the Governors and they agreed on the use of the money.

"To the best of my knowledge, even though when the deductions started, I recall that the then president and the then Minister of Power make presentations to Economic Councils and he also made presentations to ALGON and these bodies agreed to allow the money be spent.

"But for them to have agreed that it be spent on such projects, it means they all agreed that it be used from the Excess Crude Account."

Usman also told the House that the one per cent commission deducted by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) was legal, stating that "it is a policy of the CBN and they may have to clarify why it had to be one per cent. May be the CBN could answer that. We did ask questions if it could be .0 to 25 per cent or any other thing. But they said it is the standard practice." On the Mambilla Hydro Power Project in Taraba State, the former minister also confirmed that she was part of the team that negotiated for the $2.5 billion facility with the Chinese Government.

"I still stand on that loan. For the government of the day to continue or not depends on their own stand. The loan was taken to build a hydro power project and if we need the power then we have to go ahead. But if we feel we don't need it, well they have to decide," she said. Usman also clarified her stand on the waiving of the Due Process Certificates for payment, stating that "Yes, I do recall that indeed there was a waiver. There are two issues on Due Process on the award and the payments.

"The Due Process that was waived was for payment. Imoke in his haste to see that something was done to the power situation wrote to former president Olusegun Obasanjo. In a bid to hasten up the process, he did write a letter making requests for Due Process to be waived in the payment. He actually wrote and you people should have a copy of the letter.

"As a Minister you don't pay contractors, you process the papers and the CBN does the payment. As a minister I was not competent to pay any contractor.

"As a minister, I usually try to watch out for the Invoice, the Contract Agreement and the DPC that was used in the award of the contract and the DPC. And in this case, the President waived the DP, based on the letter that was written. I also had copies of the Due Process Waiver so it was not a matter of the ministers waiving Due Process, but the instructions.

"Sometimes public officers were in a hurry to deliver on their campaign promises. Maybe the former president and Senator Liyel in a bid to make sure that they delivered on their campaign promises, tried to do something to the power situation. Or to make sure that the people see something on ground. I believe that they knew what they did," she said. On the question of Papalanto Power Project Phase 2 Combined Cycle and Omotosho, the former minister agreed making the payments "Yes I did agree that payment be made. We either make payment or don't approve if there are not enough documents. I usually watch out for Performance Bonds and the Banks, and also check that there are milestones to protect the Federal Government.

"If I recall, the way things happened, the issue of waiver was between the Minister of Power and Steel and the President. I can't answer why they wanted the waiver and they must have given him cogent reasons and the President did approve. Whether I did consent to it or not, The Due Process certificate is clear and contains all the information that was needed. These were expenditures that were not coming from the budget.

"It was coming from the Excess Crude. My role on the NIPPs was basically as a member of the FEC from 2003 to 2007. The issue was presented at the Federal Executive Council (FEC). It was binding on all of us, whether I objected, it never mattered, but the decision was binding.

"We were not part of the team that packaged it. It was the Ministry of Power and steel that did it. We could not make any significance because we were not specialists in the power sector," she said.