The senate yesterday unanimously agreed to probe the privatization of the unbundled Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) and the country’s investment on power generation since 1999.
The senators who said several billions of dollars were invested in the country’s power sector without commensurate result said the power generation was better before 1999. The 13-man adhoc committee constituted to probe the sector is chaired by Abubakar Kyari (Borno North) and has four weeks to look into the sector.
The constitution of the committee was sequel to a motion sponsored by Senator Ali Ndume (Borno South) on the deplorable power situation of the country. Ndume said in 1999, the power generation was 4,600 megawatts and expressed shock that16 years after the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) announced that the power generation has increased to 4,600 megawatts.
“It is shocking that the TCN are celebrating that the power generation has increased to 4,600 when in 1999, the total generation capacity of the country was 4,600 megawatts 16 years after despite billion of dollars investment,” he said.
Godswill Akpabio said Nigerians are very worried about the condition of the power sector. “Nothing can work in this country until the power sector is fixed,” he said and threw his weight on the probe of the sector.
The senate unanimously urged President Muhammadu Buhari to direct the TCN to reconnect Maiduguri, Borno state capital which was disconnected in May, this year. The senate also set up an adhoc committee to look into the factors militating against the aviation sector.
