The Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) has thrown its weight behind the Senate on its call for the probe of the privatisation of the nation’s power sector.
Senate President Ahmad Lawan had said at a recent meeting with the executive of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), that there is the need to revisit the privatisation of the power sector as a way of unravelling the truth about the whole exercise, to bring about a solution to the sector. MAN had expressed its frustrations over the poor state of power supply in the country.
The sector was privatised in 2013 under the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) administration with the distribution and generation sub-sectors sold to core investors.
In endorsing the probe in a statement signed by its Chairman Niyi Akinsiju and Secretary Cassidy Madueke, BMO said the probe is most welcome in view of the growing concern expressed by Nigerians on the state of power supply in the country.
“There is no doubt that the privatisation of power sector by the PDP administration seven years ago, has continued to put the current administration under heavy financial burden and eroded public confidence in the ability of the concerned investors to manage the nation’s power sector for effective and efficient power delivery to Nigerians.
“We believe that the growing concern of Nigerians on the poor state of power supply in the country over the years, and the failure of the supposed investors in the areas of power generation and distribution to deliver effective and efficient power supply, have shown that the privatisation of the power sector under the PDP administration was done in bad faith and fraught with irregularities.
“So far, it has become obvious that the investors did not have the capacity to turns things around for the better despite huge financial support from the Buhari administration over the past years. The privatisation of the power sector by the PDP and its leadership was nothing but a criminal move to commit Nigerians to their cronies.
“It is a mere transfer of monopoly of the power sector from the state to a group of corrupt PDP leaders and sympathisers at the expense of Nigerians.
BMO is of the opinion that it is imperative for government to probe the privatisation exercise to ascertain the truth surrounding the exercise, and to ensure that those found wanting, after investigation, are prosecuted and punished accordingly, to serve as a deterrent to others who might want to play such unpatriotic and ignoble roles in the future.
“There is need for government to investigate the roles played by relevant government agencies and individuals before, during, and after the privatisation exercise, as well as the performance of the said investors in the power sector in line with their agreements, including the management and disbursement of any loans or bonds of the companies in the sector.”
While urging Nigerians to demand from the PDP an account of the various roles played by its government and its leaders in the privatisation of the power sector for their selfish interest at the expense of Nigerians, BMO called on Nigerians to continue to give their unalloyed support to President Buhari’s administration in its efforts to reposition the country for the good of the people.