President Muhammadu Buhari has mocked a former president Olusegun Obasanjo’s $16 billion investment on power projects in the country with little results to show.
According to the President, one of the former Heads of State had bragged that he spent 16 billion dollars on power yet there’s been nothing to show for it.
Recall the former President Obasanjo had openly opposed the second term bid of President Muhammadu. Obasanjo visited Afenifere chieftains in Akure on Monday urging them to collaborate with him in ousting Buhari from office in 2019.
Buhari made this known on Tuesday while addressing a Buhari Support Organisation led by the Comptroller-General of Nigerian Customs Service, Hameed Ali, who visited him at the State House.
He said: “One of the former Heads of State between that time was bragging that he spent more than 15 billion American dollars, on power.
“Where is the power? Where is the power? And now we have to pay the debts. This year and last year’s budget which I took to the National Assembly was the highest in capital projects: More than 1.3 trillion Naira.
“Let anybody come and confront me publicly in the National Assembly. What have they been doing? Some of them have been there for 10 years.”
Even though President Buhari did not mention the name of the former president, he may have been referring to the Olusegun Obasanjo administration which spent billions on power projects.
The administration had claimed that it spent $16bn on electricity projects, but the House of Representatives later described the expenditure as a “colossal waste”
Consequently, there were several calls for investigation into the expenditure of power projects.
In 2017, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) had called for an investigation to “reveal how over N11 trillion meant to provide regular electricity supply was allegedly squandered under the governments of former presidents Olusegun Obasanjo, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and Goodluck Jonathan”.
President Buhari noted that the perpetrators lacked imagination and plans for Nigeria’s development.
“Sometimes, I wonder about those who can afford to send their children abroad for studies and yet continue to sabotage the economy, I wonder what kind of Nigeria they want their children to return to and work.
“There is a lot of lack of imagination. If you are working for the country, then you shouldn’t be misappropriating and misapplying public funds the way people did,” he said.
