President Muhammadu Buhari,has said that former President Olusegun Obasanjo has questions to answer over the spending of $16 billion on power projects during his administration.
Mr Buhari stated this Tuesday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja while receiving the Buhari Support Organisation led by the Comptroller-General of Nigerian Customs Service, Hameed Ali.
Although the president did not mention Mr Obasanjo’s name, he however, asked “where was the power after a former president claimed to have spent $16 billion on the project?”
The power project was done during the Obasanjo administration (1999-2006). It has been described as a mismanagement of public funds by observers and civic groups.
The House of Representatives in 2008 described the $16 billion spent on power by the Obasanjo government as colossal waste.
The House said the expenditure was a case of “poor budget planning and a lack of proper oversight by relevant bodies.”
The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) had in 2016 also urged the acting Chief Justice of Nigeria at the time, Walter Onnoghen, to immediately appoint an independent counsel to investigate the allegations of corruption in the spending of the $16 billion by the Obasanjo government.
Mr Obasanjo was a key supporter of Mr Buhari in the build-up to the 2015 general election.
Mr Obasanjo has, however, pledged to work against Mr Buhari’s re-election in 2019 saying he has performed poorly in office.
Details later…
