The Power Probe Panel Controversy

When the House Representatives mandated its Committee on Power and Steel to probe the spending pof $16 billion on some phantom power projects executed under the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, not a few Nigerians were hoping for a positive outcome of the exercise.

But the macabre dance and controversy surrounding the report of the investigation conducted by the Ndudi Elumelu-led panel leaves much to be desired. Two members of the panel, Donald Fegberigbin and Ahmed Salik have distanced themselves from the report of the investigation.

According to Honourable Fegberigbin, the Committee did not have any report yet on the power probe. He said that there was no time members of the panel were to write any report on the probe.

Fegberigbin, a representative from Southern Ijaw Federal Constituency, claimed that the committee was yet to meet and adopt the full report of the technical committee looking into the matter. He said it was only after the House Committee had seen the clean copy from the technical committee and looked at the recommendations, that it could now present a report.

On his own part, Ahmed Salik corroborated Fegberigbin’s cliam. He also said there was no committee report on the probe of the power sector.

“If there is any, it is the chairman’s report and not the committee’s report,” Salik said.
Salik said that the chairman called members of the committee to two separate meetings and was reading the contents of a certain copy to them. He said the members protested that he had to make photocopies available to them.

Following the seeming bickering among members of the committee, one is forced to doubt the possibility of  Nigerians seeing the true picture of how $16 billion was squandered on phoney power projects.

Sometimes, the way our lawmakers go about their duties makes one wonder whether they are in the National Assembly to represent the people or their own interests. Do they not realise that their investigation is a wasted effort if the report of their findings does not see the light of day?

Pray, does it take an eternity to prepare a report of an investigation supposedly carried out in the interest of Nigerians? Are there some subterranean moves to doctor the report? These are the questions Nigerians would like answers to. If members of the House Committee on Power and Steel are serious and committed to transparency and national development as they would want us to believe, then they should without delay make public their findings on the power project scandal.