Femi Gbajabiamila, the speaker of
the house of representatives, says the challenges being encountered in the
power sector is due to the unpatriotic activities of serving and retired public
officeholders.
Gbajabiamila made this comment
while declaring open the investigative hearing into the federal government’s
abandoned power projects from 1999 till date.
The speaker, represented by
Mohammed Monguno from Borno, said the motion on the need to review the
government’s expenditure on the power sector to ensure sustenance of the power
reform programme in Nigeria was referred to the ad-hoc committee on Thursday.
“You will agree with me that from
1999 to date, the National Assembly has appropriated huge sums of monies in the
power sector and there are lots and much to be desired from the sector,” he
said.
“The problem is you and I; we are
not patriotic enough in the discharge of our responsibilities to our nation.
“Again, I want to state that it
is embarrassing that when you pick-up newspaper, what you read is probe, probe,
and probe; many heads to roll; EFCC to investigate.
“It is time in our
nation-building to rethink and press the reset button on what we do, how we do
them with a view to ensuring that we get value for the monies appropriated for
projects.”
Gbajabiamila said that Nigerians
were virtually in every part of the world largely in search of stable
electricity supply, good medical health facilities, quality education among
others.
According to him, “it is time we
put our hearts correcting all that is wrong so that we can create an enabling
environment for our children”.
“The constitution of this Ad-hoc
Committee is to enable the House in moving forward, take a critical evaluation
of monies appropriated vis-a-vis their utilisations.
“However, in the course of
carrying out this assignment, the committee is at liberty in line with Sections
88 and 89 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) to invite any organisation,
agency, person, either still in active service or retired to make clarification
where necessary.”
Commenting on the ad-hoc
committee, Usman Kumo, a lawmaker from Gombe and the acting chairman of the ad
hoc committee, explained that the aim of the exercise is to find the major
encumbrances affecting the projects and to make appropriate recommendations on
the ways to complete the projects within the life span of President Muhammadu
Buhari’s administration.
Stakeholders at the event include
Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Power, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory
Commission (NERC), Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), management team from
all the Distribution Companies (DISCOs) and GENCOS, among others.
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