From Fred Itua, Abuja
Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, Group Managing Director (GMD) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mr. Maikanti Baru and officials of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) failed to appear before a joint Senate committee on Power, Steel Development and Metallurgy, and Gas, yesterday.
The officials were summoned to appear before the joint committee, investigating ‘The urgent need to save the 215 megawatt Kaduna power plant.’
While Fashola sent the Permanent Secretary in charge of Power, Mr. Frank Edozie, NNPC GMD, Baru, did not send any representative to stand in for him at the investigative hearing.
Interim TCN Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Usman Gur Mohammed, sent one assistant manager as his representative.
The committee chairman on Power, Enyinnaya Abaribe, who expressed his displeasure over non-appearance of Fashola and other invited government officials, threatened appropriate actions will be taken.
“Fashola did not call me. He did not send a letter to inform this committee that he will not be around. If he feels that attending to other things is more important than the Senate and Nigerians, I wish him well. But, the Senate is bigger than anybody.
“As a committee, we will take appropriate action against those we invited and refused to turn up. They are taking Nigerians and the Senate for granted and we will not take this,” Abaribe said.
His co-chairman, Bassey Akpan, who heads the Gas committee, insisted that Fashola must be compelled to appear before the committee at another date, to explain the role he played regarding the botched gas supply to the Kaduna power station.
“Fellow Senators, I will suggest that we invite Fashola at another date. He is not bigger than the Senate. He must appear before this Senate. We have to fix another date for Fashola to appear. He must appear before this committee. He is not bigger than us,” Akpan said.
The committee is investigating why the ministry reverted to the use of diesel to power the 215 megawatt Kaduna power plant, as against the original master plan to use gas.
The committee said use of diesel, which is also referred to as Automotive Gas Oil (AGO), is 60 per cent higher than gas, which was approved for the power plant.
The panel is also investigating why the ministry flouted its resolution to stay action on the contract, pending conclusion of the investigation.
Abaribe said: “Given that the cost of AGO is 60 per cent higher than gas, it is also not environmentally-friendly and not in line with the United Nations Charter on Green Energy and Climate Change.
“Another issue we are faced with is the lack of gas pipelines from the southern to northern part of the country which, on its own, has hindered the generation capacity of the Kaduna power plant.
In his reaction, Edozie, who stood in for Fashola, said the use of AGO is a temporal measure. He insisted that the original master plan to use gas to power the plant was still intact.
He also told the investigative panel that the ministry flouted the directive of the Senate to halt work since contractors were already at site.
The joint committee is expected to submit the report of its findings to the Senate in the coming weeks.