Uzodinma calls for probe of billions of dollars spent on power projects since 1999

Governor Hope Uzodinma of Imo State has called for a comprehensive audit of the substantial funds allocated to electricity projects since 1999, expressing concern over the lack of significant progress in the power sector despite substantial investments.

This plea was made during the South-east’s Business Roundtable for the Light up Nigeria project, organized by the Niger Delta Power Holding Company and attended by Vice-President Kashim Shettima and other South-east governors at the Old Government Lodge, Enugu.

Governor Uzodimma emphasized the need for accountability in addressing the challenges faced by the power sector.

“There are questions that are capable of provoking renewed interests of our people in Nigeria. In 1998, Nigeria was generating over 6000 megawatts of power. From 1999 to 2007, the federal government of Nigeria spent over $13 billion to develop the power sector.

“By 2024, 78 per cent of homes and industries in Nigeria have no access to power. Something is definitely wrong,” he said.

“There’s a need for a comprehensive audit of decisions taken in the past – where we have gotten it right and where we have gotten it wrong. So that we start from the known to the unknown,” the governor stated.

‘Seventy-five per cent of industries in South-east down’

Mr Uzodinma said the South-east has continued to battle poor power supply and that the situation affected the development and operations of industries in the region.

“The people of the South-east are very hardworking. But over 75 per cent of industries are shut down in the South-east due to lack of power. This is a zone that is hugely endowed with natural resources. You talk of gas which is in the Niger Delta, which the South-east is part of.

The governor contended that it would be “unreasonable” for Nigerians to blame President Bola Tinubu for current woes in the country’s power sector given that Mr Tinubu’s nine-month-old administration inherited an unstable power sector.

He said the rising cost of commodities was partly because of poor power supply in Nigeria, saying stable electricity will revive the country’s economy and reduce hardship.