20th August, 2008
Press Release
NO TO POWER DEAL WITH SIEMENS
Afenifere condemns in the strongest terms the new power deal struck by
President Umaru Yar’Adua with Germany involving Siemens, a firm
suspended for corrupt business practices in Nigeria in December 2007.
It is on record that the Minister of Information and Communication, Mr.
John Odey while announcing the suspension of Siemens in November 2007 had
said that it would be improper to have new dealings with the company while
a bribery allegation was still subsisting against it.
But 9 months down the line, the Yar’Adua administration has eaten its
words by entering into new deals with a company whose officials have been
convicted in Germany for the allegations of unethical business practices
in Nigeria. Till date, we have not been told of Nigeria’s findings on
the matter and the company still remains suspended going by the last
pronouncement of government’s on the bribery saga.
The deal with Siemens further casts serious doubt on the moral fibre of
the Yar’Adua administration coming at a time there are reports of probe
of Julius Berger in Germany for alleged acts of corruption in its footing
of frequent medical trips of President Yar’Adua to Germany.
There is no way the Yar’Adua presidency can convince right-thinking
people that this Siemens deal is not borne out of moral compromise. It is
rather sad that while the nation is waiting for what the House of
Representatives would do on the report of the Elumelu Committee on power
probe which indicted former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Governor Segun
Agagu, former Governor Liyel Imoke and others, President Yar’Adua has
entered into another phoney deal that may go the way of the squandered
$16b of Obasanjo era.
This latest moral somersault is the peak of all funny actions the
President has taken in the recent past, which show that there is no
genuine commitment to tackle the power crisis in Nigeria.
For instance, the President has taken steps to rebundle the Power Holding
Company of Nigeria (PHCN), which is a recipe for inefficiency, corruption
and abuse by state officials. He also reappointed Engr. Suleiman Bello
whose activities in the National Electric Power Authority (NEPA) in the
past were characterized by gross mismanagement as the Chief Executive of
PHCN.
While industries are folding up for lack of power, small businesses
collapsing up and the general populace are groaning in darkness, President
Yar’Adua has chosen to play game with this all important sector.
The irresistible conclusion from all this is that the Peoples Democratic
Party (PDP) either under Obasanjo or Yar’Adua does not have the
interests of Nigerians at heart except that of a few cabal who benefit
from shady contractual arrangements.
The only redemptive route for the administration is to get Siemens out of
this deal.
Yinka Odumakin
National Publicity Secretary