Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, (SERAP) has sent a
\nletter to Justice Water Samuel Nkanu Onnoghen Chief Justice of Nigeria
\nrequesting him to urgently use his good offices and position \u201cto appoint
\nan independent counsel to investigate allegations of corruption in the
\nspending of $16 billion on electricity by the government of former
\nPresident Olusegun Obasanjo between 1999 and 2007.\u201d<\/p>\n
SERAP said the request was brought \u201cpursuant to Section 52 of the
\nIndependent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act 2000, and the
\nletter and spirit of the Act, and the object and purpose of the 1999
\nConstitution (as amended).\u201d<\/p>\n
The letter dated 24 November 2016 and signed by SERAP senior staff counsel
\nTimothy Adewale states that, \u201ca Parliamentary Hearing by the House of
\nRepresentatives in Abuja over the spending of $16 billion between 1999 and
\n2007 on the power project revealed through testimonies of witnesses
\nappearing before the Committee that the $16 billion budgeted for the power
\nproject may have been stolen by some state officials and others, and
\ncannot be accounted for.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to the organization, \u201cSection 52 of the Corrupt Practices Act
\nrequires the Chief Justice of Nigeria to authorise an independent counsel
\nto investigate any allegation of corruption against high level public
\nofficials\u2014at the federal or state level–and to report his findings to the
\nNational Assembly or appropriate house of assembly.\u201d<\/p>\n
The letter reads in part: \u201cWe believe that the above highlighted findings
\nby the Parliamentary Hearing have sufficiently demonstrated good cause
\ninvariably justifying your intervention in the matter. We therefore urge
\nyou to interpret this provision robustly and flexibly in the light of the
\nunique role of the judiciary in the efforts to prevent and combat
\ncorruption and its destructive effects on the society.\u201d
\n\u201cWe believe your urgent intervention will contribute to improving the
\nintegrity of government and public confidence and trust in their
\ngovernment. It would also serve as a vehicle to further the public’s
\nperception of fairness and thoroughness, and to avert even the most subtle
\nof influences that may appear in an investigation of highly-placed
\nexecutive officials.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe also urge you to be guided not by technicalities of ICPC Act but by
\nthe overall public interest involved in the enjoyment of the right to
\nregular and uninterrupted electricity supply by millions of Nigerians, and
\nthe spirit and letter of the constitution. In particular, Chapter 2 of the
\n1999 Constitution dealing with Fundamental Objectives and Directive
\nPrinciples of State Policy, high-level public officials have a clear
\nobligation to \u201ceradicate all corrupt practices and abuse of power.\u201d<\/p>\n
“SERAP also notes that lack of access to uninterrupted energy\/electricity
\nservices has forced many citizens to use and collect frequently
\ncontaminated surface water for drinking and household uses; and denied the
\ncitizens the ability and services for boiling, purifying, disinfecting,
\nand storing water, as well as for irrigation to increase the productivity
\nof lands, thereby decreasing the availability of food supplies and
\nundermining employment opportunities.”<\/p>\n
\u201cFurthermore, the constitution also prohibits the exploitation of
\nNigeria\u2019s human and natural resources for any reasons other than for the
\ngood of the community.\u201d This position is well supported by the provisions
\nof the UN Convention against Corruption to which Nigeria is a state party.
\nIn exercising your statutory and constitutional responsibilities, we urge
\nyou to work very closely with both the Independent Corrupt Practices and
\nOther Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and the Economic and Financial
\nCrime Commission (EFCC).\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSERAP notes that the failure by successive governments to tell Nigerians
\nthe truth about allegations of corruption in the spending of $16 billion
\non electricity supply amounts to a failure to ensure that energy
\nservices\/electricity services are progressively made available, on the
\nbasis of equality and non-discrimination, to the whole population,
\nincluding those most disadvantaged, such as the fringe dwellers and the
\nrural poor.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSERAP also notes that allegations of corruption in the energy sector have
\nresulted in the epileptic and interrupted supply of electricity and
\ncorresponding deprivation and denial of the citizens\u2019 access to quality
\nhealthcare, adequate food, shelter, clothing, water, sanitation, medical
\ncare, schooling, and access to information.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Parliamentary Hearing which took place in Abuja between Tuesday,
\nMarch 11 and Wednesday, 12 March, 2008 also revealed that: Mr. Bernerd
\nMensen, the Chief Executive Officer of Lameyer, a German firm was paid
\nN370 million (out of the total contract sum of N600m) just to do a
\nfeasibility study on a power station, but he confessed that he had never
\nvisited the site of the Mambilla Hydro-Electric Power Project in Taraba
\nState.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe information from the hearing also revealed that N200m of the N370m
\ncollected was spent to build a bungalow at Gembu, apparently to create the
\nimpression that work was in progress, but the project was later abandoned.
\nOne of the witnesses who gave evidence at the hearing said that the
\nground-breaking was done at Gembu, about 25kilometers from the Mambilla;
\nand that they never got to the Mambilla at all. The witness also disclosed
\nthat the sample of oil Lameyer collected for test was dumped at somebody\u2019s
\ncompound, and that Lameyer did nothing to implement the project.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Mambilla power plant was envisaged to generate 2,600 megawatts of
\nelectricity. According to the hearing, the contracts awarded for the
\nKainji, Egbin, Afam and Ugehli power stations were never executed but the
\nPHCN, in its report to the hearing on how it spent its budgetary
\nallocations between 1999 and 2007, quoted the contracts as part of the
\nwork done.\u00a0 The hearing also revealed that there were about nine of such
\ncontracts, totalling $142m.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, (SERAP) has sent a letter to Justice Water Samuel Nkanu Onnoghen Chief Justice of Nigeria requesting him to urgently use his good offices and position…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":54691,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-54690","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n