Buhari: I will recover $16b Obasanjo govt power cash

* What happened to power sector cash, by
ex-president

The President vowed yesterday to recover the $16 billion power
funds that went down the drain during former President Olusegun
Obasanjo’s administration.

“Where is the power? Where is the money?” the President queried
at the Oxbow Lake Pavilion, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, during the
presidential campaign rally of the All Progressives Congress
(APC).

He said his administration will go after all those involved in
the power deals to recover the money and continue with the ongoing
development of critical infrastructure for the common good.

Obasanjo was president on the platform of the Peoples Democratic
Party (PDP) from 1999 to 2007. His successor the late President
Shehu Musa Yar’Adua launched a probe into the power projects. Many
of the equipment got stuck at the ports while the probe lasted.

A mammoth crowd of party faithful thronged the rally for
Buhari’s re-election and the election of APC candidates in the
state.

Men, women and youths wearing vests and fez caps branded in APC
colours were in a carnival mood, singing, drumming and shouting Sai
Baba.

President Buhari, who is seeking another term on the APC’s
ticket, at the Government House heliport in Yenagoa, was received
by Governor Seriake Dickson, his deputy, Rear Admiral John Jonah,
Information & Orientation Commissioner Daniel Iworiso-Markson, and
other exco members.

Buhari was also welcomed by APC leader and former Governor
Timipre Sylva; Minister of State for Agriculture Heineken Lokpobiri
and APC state chairman Jothan Amos, among others.

The President and his team, including APC Presidential Campaign
Council Director-General and former Rivers State Governor Rotimi
Amaechi and some members of the National Working Committee (NWC),
proceeded to the secretariat of the State Traditional Rulers’
Council, where the APC candidate held talks with royal fathers, led
by Twon Brass monarch Alfred Diette Spiff.

The President was given an Ijaw name, Ebiwari (Good House) by
Amos, who referred to him as “a symbol of truth” – to the
admiration of the crowd.

President Buhari insisted that those who squandered the power
funds would not go scot free.

He said: “You know we are building roads; the railway was
virtually killed; we are rebuilding it and there was no power; we
are bringing power back. The previous government mentioned on their
own that they spent $16 billion for power.

“But you are better witnesses than myself; where is the power?
Where is the money? We will follow them and eventually, God willing
we will get them and we will get our money back.”

The President promised that the APC administration under him
will continue to tackle seriously security, economy, infrastructure
and corruption.

He said: “We are also promising that we will make people who
occupy executive positions both in federal and state levels to be
accountable to the people. If you could recall when I came in 2015
under our great party, the party articulated three issues on which
we campaigned and were voted in.

“These are security, economy and fighting corruption. On
security, the people of the Northeast are the biggest witnesses of
what we achieved because when we came, at least 17 local
governments were under Boko Haram. As I speak now, none is under
them. But they resorted to train the young men and women, wrap them
up with explosives and ask them to explode it in churches, mosques,
market places and in motor parks. That is even rare now.

“On economy, when we came in we had very high importation of
food stuff. We thank God that in the three previous raining
seasons,we realised bountiful harvests. The government’s
contribution was to make fertiliser and other agricultural inputs
available. That took away many able-bodied persons out of
unemployment.

“On fighting corruption, under this system, it is very
difficult. But I keep mentioning wherever I go that all those who
have account to give should prepare to account for it. Those that
are indicted were taken before the court and a number of them are
in jail and a number of their properties had been taken away to be
sold and put in the treasury to continue with infrastructure.”

The President praised the party leaders, saying the APC was
stronger and that its strength would be tested in the forthcoming
elections.

Sylva said the APC remained the stronger party in the state and
thanked the President for assisting in payment of workers’ salaries
through bailouts.

The former governor said the Ijaw people could be forgiven the
last time for not voting President Buhari because their son
contested the election against him; they had no reason not to vote
for him in the coming election.

He accused the state government of spending N120 billion to
build an airport without disclosing the contractor’s identity.

Addressing Buhari on why the people would vote for him, Sylva
said: “Mr. President, you have also commenced and almost completed
a major road in Bayelsa State connecting the community of the
former President. You have also commissioned a major water project
in Bayelsa, one in Otuoke and another one in Ekeremor, which was
done from the Ministry of Agriculture.

“Bayelsa has many reasons they should vote for you again. I
always say this to Bayelsa, it is as clear as crystal, visible to
the blind and audible to the deaf that Mr. President is winning
again. I tell my people that apart from the fact that Mr. President
has done a lot, we must also vote for Mr. President because that is
the winning team.

“Our father, Melford Okilo, taught us that our alliance with
northern Nigeria must be sustained. And for us as Ijaw people, that
is what we have always been known for. Let us not make any mistake.
I learnt that some people came here to deceive Bayelsans, but we
know them for whom they are. We call them ‘People Deceive
People’.

“For Ijaw land to grow, we need a forthright President like
President Buhari. Izon means ‘truth’ and it is our name as a
people. We also know that the name Muhammadu Buhari stands for
‘truth’. Buhari is a truthful person. So, he is our natural ally.
That is why we must all vote for President Buhari.

“He has brought many things to Ijaw land. I stand here as a son
of Ijaw land, as a former governor and as a chairman of the
Maritime University, which is also a school that was instituted by
the President. Ijaw people have no reason not to vote for the
President. This time we must vote en masse.”

Lokpobiri urged the President to ensure a level-playing filed in
Bayelsa to enable the APC prove its worth. He accused the state
government of squandering N1.3 trillion that accrued to the state
for seven years.

He said: “I have the mandate of the Bayelsa people to tell you
that Bayelsa doesn’t want to be left of this moving train and
winning movement. Right from the days of Melfford Okilo, Bayelsans
have always known the party that would win. This time around,
Bayelsans have already seen that your reelection had already been
concluded.

“The only request we want is for a level-playing field to be
provided for Bayelsans to show you that they love you. This state
in the past seven years have received N1.3trn. This is excluding
local government allocations, bailout funds and loans that run into
hundreds of billions of naira.

“But Bayelsa is still one of the least developed states in the
country. Bayelsa is still one of the darkest states in the country.
Bayelsa civil servants have suffered the highest level of
retrenchment in this country.”.

Lokpobiri asked the President to bring his anti-corruption drive
to Bayelsa and make the state government account for the money it
received without commensurate development.”