Obasanjo and the 16 billion dollars Power Funds Looting Scandal: THE TRUE STORY
There has been a lot of news and allegations about a certain amount of money worth sixteen billion US dollars ($16,000,000,000), Two Presidential administration has brought up the issue of this Obasanjo’s 16 billion dollars power funds which was allegedly looted, but more attention was drawn to it in this present Buhari administration
This money was allegedly looted under the pretense and context of fixing the power problems of Nigeria.
Here we will be talking about the true story behind the 16 billion dollars Power Funds Looting Scandal under Obasanjo’s administration
Ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo is the defendant of All the allegations about this missing funds, During the administration of late President Musa Yaradua’s was the first time he was alleged to have masterminded the embezzlement.
The issue couldn’t have a headway due to the ill health of the late President Musa Yaradua, so it is not in the time of President Muhammad Buhari that they started accusing Obasanjo of knowing about the allegedly missing $16bn
How the project started and what Transpired
The Name/Title of the project was the Nigerian national integrated power project (NIPP).
Federal government conceived in 2004 when Olusegun Obasanjo was the President of the federal republic of Nigeria.
The main goal of this project was to address the insufficient power generation and unstable power supply with the wasting away of gas excessively which flares away from oil exploration in the Niger Delta region
To tackle The above-listed problems, they plan the acquisition and installation of seven power plants
List of Power Plants Built with the 16 billion dollars Power Funds Contract
2. Calabar power station in Cross River State
3. Egbema power station in Imo state
4. Ikot Abasi Power Station, Akwa Ibom State
5. Omoku Power Station, River State
6. Sapele Power Station, Delta state
7. Gbarain Power station, Yenagoa Bayelsa State
The Ikot Abasi NIPP power plant was sometimes replaced by Ibom power of Akwa Ibom State, Ibom power is a state Government Project, it was a 190MW capacity invention that enables large scale transmission of electricity all across the country.
Most of these Items and Engines were having low production capacity with the hope that it will increase over time
The cost of executing this project was contracted for Four hundred and fourteen million US dollars ($414,000,000) for turbines and all other electricity generation equipment they used for it.
Corruption Allegations, Investigations, and EFCC involvement
When Goodluck Jonathan became the president, he set up a panel and committee that investigated Obasanjo, but they couldn’t found him guilty or have played any bad role of all they have acclaimed about him. Honorable Aminu Tambuwal led the panel
The volume of voices about this missing money gets to the highest since 2017 when the going got worse between President Buhari and his former boss in the military (lol) in the person of Olusegun Obasanjo.
Since then Sai Baba has been making threats of ordering the arrest and prosecution of Ebora Owu by the EFCC but we haven’t seen any action
What they have been able to do with the project
This project couldn’t be completed before the tenure of Olusegun Obasanjo came to an end and Yaradua took over for him.
Late president Musa Yaradua interrupted the funding of this project for two years but despite all these challenges,11 power plants, and 4 federal government power stations were parturition of this project
Some of them are :
Olorunsogo II power station
Geregu Power station
Alaoji power station |
Omotosho II power station
Olusegun Obasanjo as well shed a few lights about this $16bn fuss in his book my watch in chapter 41,42,43 and 47. In 2018 Obasanjo said if Buhari needed an answer to his question of where the money is, he should read those chapters in his book and if he couldn’t, he should tell his aides to read it and they explain it to him, (what is obj trying to say?)
read more history and political analysis HERE
Read more History and Political Analysis
Recommended websites: Oldnaija, Alux.com, Nairaland.com
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