House of Representatives member, Danlami Hamza, ANPP Kano, speaks with DESMOND UTOMWEN on the decision of the House to probe the huge amount of money sunk into the power sector without results and how the former president ran the country for eight years without recourse to due process
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| • Danlami Hamza. |
Q: The House recently resolved to look into about $16 billion sunk into the power sector with no meaningful results. How do you see this probe changing the face of the power sector in Nigeria?
A: Nobody should be surprised that the power sector is getting all the attention from the Executive and the Legislature. The stagnation of our country not only economically but even security-wise is a direct result of the sorry state of the power sector. Industries have shut down and unemployment is taking its toll on the society. People are finding it hard to survive; some have resorted to all kinds of survival instincts to make ends meet. So, any right-thinking leader or responsible individual should worry about the state of the power sector. When we first came in 1999, I was a member of the Power and Steel Committee and the leadership was under Hon Audu Idris Umar from Gombe, now a senator. We undertook a tour of all NEPA sub-stations in the country. There was not one single turbine that we did not visit and find out exactly what was happening – from Afam, Ughelli, Sapele, Ijora, Egbin, Kainji and Jebba to Shiroro – and we realised that as a result of neglect, these generation stations had gone down drastically in efficiency.
At the point we were making the tour, not one single turbine had undergone the Turn Around Maintenance as required by the manufacturers. Having done this, we came back to the House, gave our reports, sought audience with then President Obasanjo and advised him that from our study internally, and even externally from our visits to other countries, we realised that for any country to be sufficient in power generation, it must invest a minimum of 9-12 per cent of its GDP continuously for a period of 15 years or even more. At a certain point of the equilibrium, it will find out that the cost of maintaining that sector would drop from the 12 per cent or thereabout, to less than 2.5 per cent. But this is to be done consistently, diligently and must be well planned.
The former president accepted it. In the first budget we handled, that was in the year 2000 and not the supplementary budget we did when we came in, power sector had the lion’s share for the first time in the history of this country. Then the late Bola Ige was the Minister of Power and he came out with this lofty ambition of trying to make Nigeria self-sufficient in power in three years. In 2001, again, with some great deal of efforts we were able to convince Mr. President to give power sector the largest share. But by the third budget, the President said no way. He was not giving it that priority anymore. But, of course, money was being spent. Now, my understanding of the power sector is that, unfortunately, NEPA, now PHCN, that is supposed to oversee the sector is the bane of the sector. Any Nigerian top level management staff that is in NEPA will tell you that it is not possible to get power in this country. They will never tell you anything is possible.
Recently, I saw some so-called experts from the USA meeting with Mr. President and they said Nigeria needs about $40 billion and that it will get to 2020 before we can get it right, but that is all crap. I believe we can solve this problem, we have been to countries that are less endowed but are serious and are ready to bring in those who know.
Q: Many believe that the decision of the House to look into the books of the power sector is a subtle way to probe the former president? How true is this?
A: Personally, and from my religious angle, I don’t believe in probes. If you probe too much, you might just be surprised at some results of what you are probing. I would rather look forward and build. What I believe in governance is that if I take over power today, I will draw a line. If anybody has questions as to your tenure, let them come to you wherever and ask you. Why should I waste so much time and resources probing, preoccupying my mind with so much rubbish when I should be thinking of addressing issues?
But if they want to probe Obasanjo, what is so strange about it? He probed people too.
Q: The National Assembly was there during these eight years of waste. What happened to the oversight functions that were carried out year in and year out? Budgets were passed yearly and implementations were below average yet nothing was done. Don’t you think the National Assembly did not do enough work to check government spending?
A: Some of you journalists are the worst culprits of the Obasanjo era. I have never seen a president who has been so lucky with the press. No matter what happened, nobody was willing to ask what Obasanjo was doing. During the first four years, everybody was saying it was a learning period, let’s take it easy. Don’t forget we were dead serious about impeaching him when Hon Ghali Na’abba was Speaker. It was not a joke and it was not a ploy. But believe me, Nigerians and particularly you journalists were simply not ready for Obasanjo to be removed. People were saying “no, no, no, he is the Messiah, he is Mr. Probity, he is one of the eminent leaders of the world.” Nobody was willing to give us the chance.
When the National Assembly passed a budget and he didn’t implement, we would ask questions during the consideration of subsequent budgets. But you people would be screaming: “pass the budget, pass the budget.” That is why I am asking my colleagues to take it easy with President Yar’Adua this time around. We have a president today who is willing to let each arm perform its functions. We have a president today who is saying, “let’s play by the rules of the game.” In the past, we had an obstinate president who we should have fought. People like me were willing to go the whole hog. There were no foundations of integrity and truthfulness but you the press gave Obasanjo so much support. I don’t even want to think Obasanjo started with evil intent, but the kind of absolute power he wielded, the freedom he enjoyed and the unimaginable support he got from the media made him to derail.We did our best given the difficult circumstances; we were simply trying to make the best out of a very bad situation. Of course, when we talk about the media, we talk about the overwhelming majority. But TheNEWS magazine was one of the few that stood firm, the oasis of the desert.
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