Buhari will implement power probe report – Elumelu

Hon. Godwin Ndudi Elumelu was the Chairman of the very controversial power probe committee in the 6th House of Representatives.

In the cause of that probe, the hunter became the hunted as he was arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for taking bribe.

However, in this interview with select media organisations in Abuja, Elumelu bares his mind on his committee’s findings and how the current probe of the power sector by the 9th Senate can succeed.

Excerpts:

You conducted one of the most sensitive and technical probes in the power sector in the history of Nigeria and at the end of the day Nigerians did not get the outcome of the report because the report was not implemented. Now the Senate has started another process of the power sector probe. How do you feel as someone who has gone through this process?

First of all let me thank you for this interview. Like I had earlier submitted I usually stay away from interacting with the press as it relates to my probe giving the specificity of the topic. But having also seen that the Senate is now coming up with the same issue apart from the fact that they have extended it to 2015, one would not want to just keep quiet like that, I would want to give my own perceptive.

Power probe was not an easy task as it were; it was actually a very challenging task which was given to me and my committee to look into it. We did it to the best of our ability; we did it with all sense of sincerity, commitment. I could remember in the course of one of our meetings, I had to refer them to the pledge of our Anthem which said “I pledge to Nigeria my country, to be faithful, loyal and honest, to serve Nigeria with all my strength, to defend our unity and uphold our honour and glory. So we took cognizance of that and made sure that everything that we did in the course of the probe that we made sure that that kind of situation was carried.

Now, probe of the power sector is something that requires a lot of commitment, discipline and focus for one to be able to get into it, be part of it and get out of it unhurt. And that is why I am happy and feels vindicated that Senate is now coming out to actually look at the power sector.

I am saying that because as we are now, people are still talking about 3,500 megawatts. But if you look at what has been committed to the nation’s power sector, one would not even be happy to be talking about 3,500 megawatts of electricity. I even don’t know whether we are going up or going backward because even prior to Obasanjo coming on board, we had up to 4,000 megawatts. While on board maintained that and now we are coming down to 3,500 megawatts and for me it is not a good thing.

But however, Senate has taken it up, it is a challenge and I think they should be able to live up to that challenge and be able to come out with something that is very good that at the end of the day, Nigerians will be well informed.

And I also look forward to one thing, I keep saying that it is not about saying that you have stolen; I am yet to see a situation where somebody would come out and say I have done this, please forgive me. People always talk about number of years.

The issue of power epilepsy vis a vis how much has been actually injected, what happened to the money injected into the power sector? How many kilowatts were committed to National grid as a result of the fund we have gotten? How much were we generating prior to injecting that fund and how much have we now achieved after injecting that fund? If we have not achieved anything, what are the answers to why we have not achieved what we ought to have achieved?

Like I said before in the course of this thing we had to travel out, in my trip to Brazil, I was shocked when the management of the power generating company told me that they spent 12billion dollars for 12,000 megawatts of electricity and it is working effectively. My question now is why we are not having the same if we spent up 16billion because 13.2biilon has been spent as at the time we were doing the probe and they had about 12billion dollars commitment which is the money that had been kept. So what happened? Why didn’t we achieve this?

Then what happened that projects were awarded to be completed within 24months, for instance 18months. I could remember payment was given to be completed within 15months and they met the time. So how come other indigenous firms could not also meet the same time, what happened, why? Then why should due process be waived for one reason and why should people be overpaid or why should people be paid 100% because there was an intention to fast track and did we eventually achieve that?

Most of that were acquired from ….how much were they acquired for? Why were they, are they at the port and not being cleared? What happened? These are questions that need answers and I think Senate should be able to get answers to them.

As someone who has done in-depth investigation into the power sector, what would you say is the main impediments to why we are not getting it right in the power sector?

Well, I think one is commitment. When you are not committed to what you have been given to do, the tendency is that there will be lapses. I observed that one in terms of government site, monitoring, management of those projects and funds were lacking. From the contractor’s point of business, they now capitalized on that weakness and also decided to abandon some of the projects.

If you recall at our public sitting we asked the then GM of NIPP who is now the MD of Power Holding Company and we asked him, if you were the owner of this money what would you have done? He said he would have done it differently. So in effect, he believed and accepts that things have not been done the way it ought to have been done. Because I could remember when we were talking about the substation which ought to have gone from Ukalagbo to Asaba, then we asked questions about Alamaya. Alamaya was a blackmailed company by world bank and you went ahead to give Alamaya a project under NIPP. In fact, it is Mabila that was given to Alamaya to do a typo-geo finding about the place and they paid them money.

And what we found out was that even the take off of Mabila was done at Gamwu and Gamwu is 20kms away from Mabila and when we went to Mabila there was light so there was everything happening in Mabila.Of course if I am invited, I will honour their invitation that is if it is in good faith. The chunk of information available and also what we have in the report; you see, I laughed when they were reviewing the report because I felt that they didn’t have details of the information. We didn’t just write because most of the things we put in our reports were things that have been submitted to us. Our job was just to collate and put it in the proper perspective.

I give you an example; the auditor general of the federation wrote us that there was a waiver of due process which ought not to have been, it is written there in the report. And that in most cases contractors were paid 100% and in most cases contractors abandoned projects. This is the auditor general of the federation who in our own opinion or in the opinion of everybody must have gone to everywhere and got those findings and put it in writing and sent to us as their presentation. What do we do, hide it? We presented it as it were in our reports and those were the things they threw away and said they didn’t matter.

Two, the minister of power then Aljiha Fatimah wrote to us tabulating how much has been spent in the power sector which totalled 13.2billion dollars. I didn’t force her and her team to send that report and it was taken under oath. And we put that in the report too but it was also thrown away. Did we manufacture it? And they gave us figures even money that was got from World Bank for the purpose of some certain projects in Niger Delta. All these things were documented.

Then you have some people, take for instance the former minister of power, may his soul rest in peace, who was former governor of Ondo State, his former ex-aid went to court, swore an affidavit, submitting names of companies that he awarded contracts to companies that are not registered. And he came by himself to make a presentation of that. I could remember his face and I called asked him why was he doing this. He replied that he doesn’t want anybody to lie about what he did or didn’t do.

So having got a sworn affidavit, attaching companies, contracts awarded and the amounts those contracts were awarded; how can our committee now throw away such facts? We put it in the report.

Now, when we got to corporate affairs we wrote them and they replied us that they couldn’t see any of those registered numbers in their system which means they were forged. And if anybody who doesn’t want us to remember, we will go to Ondo State Government House, they presented us with a report and we set out.

What we said at the public hearing was that if you are the owner of the company in question, come individually to defend the company and say I am the owner or the promoter of this company. But it is not for you the governor to come and tell us that this is the report of your own findings, we will not take it.

We are saying that we want individuals who own those companies to come as individuals to come and claim that they own the company, anyone who followed us would have remembered and that was where we disagreed. And up to today nobody has come to claim that they are the owner of those companies and they were in the report. So how do you now discountenance that?

But in the report also, the same Manager of NIPP who is also the MD, submitted in a tabulated form documented percentage of work done on site and that we lifted to put in our report. It is not as if it is our own.

We made some recommendations. One is that they need to of course put all these agencies in place and off set them, sell them off but in a good price. You don’t own a home, you want to sell it and you don’t put it in right perspective, you will obviously not get a right price for it.

We just felt that there was a need for them to make sure that the assets to be sold are in good conditions before they can sell. But the ones under NIPP, even if people are going to buy them, they ought to have been completed and you will be able to know the actual figures that it has taken you to build them before you can even think of selling them. That was what we felt ought to have taken place but that didn’t happen.

For us we felt that in selling without recourse to the conditions of those things will not give us its true value and that is what is happening now. Some of those people that bought, some either discovered that there were many rots that were not disclosed and they are having problem with taking off effectively. Some also have gone far with taking over what they have acquired. So that is what we felt in our report ought to have happened in the case of the issue of taking over the responsibility that the federal government is currently occupying in terms of how you manage it.

In fact, even in other sectors like health and all these teaching hospitals, when we did department probe, we found out that it would have been better if most of these places are privatized even with this incessant strike here and there. Those were the aspects that we felt that they should be able to look into.

Department is also another way of itself in terms of power. But the difference between department and power was that in the area of power, we did it with open probe. But teaching hospital probe, we didn’t make noise about it but that one was even worst in terms of what happened to that one.

Let me give you an example of one of the recommendations and why we did that recommendation. From Kubwa-Katampe station to National stadium there is a line, when we checked the distance of award and the actual distance, we found that it was over inflated.

We have instances; federal government procured 18 turbines for 404million dollars from GE which included all accessories after sales service and everything. Now, federal government wanted to fast track, they decided to procure an additional nine by awarding the contract to a company; but do you know how much it was awarded for? 1.545 billion dollars. If you look at it, it means it is over abnormal surplus.

If you buy 18 again at that 404million you will still be making a profit of about 1.1billion dollars but at this time you are only buying nine. At the public hearing when we asked the company the company said because GE had finished producing and had produced those 9 turbines for any country either Tanzania or so; and that what they now did was to do a third party purchase from Tanzania and that was why the price off-shoot. But does that make sense? Those were part of the report.

And what we now said was that EFCC should further investigate and prosecute. We didn’t even say they should collect the money back because we didn’t have the power to prosecute. Ours was to make recommendations to sections in the Nigerian constitution I think section 60 or so which talks about composition of committees by the National Assembly does not give committees to act as if they are independent of taking decisions of the National Assembly but to recommend to the floor of the house, that is the provisions in the constitution.

So we acted by the power conferred on us by the section 62 and also section 60 of the constitution which gives right for the chamber to regulate itself. Section 62 gives right for them to set up committees for committees to now rely on section 88 and 89 which calls for investigative hearing and public hearing and ask questions as how you managed the resources for which you have power to regulate or appropriate. Those were the things we did.

I talked about where projects were duplicated, I cannot remember now but I know PHCN awarded at a lower value, NIPP awarded at a higher value both at the same spot, it was thrown away.

Then we had where Papa Olato Omotosho for instance the eve of an existing government payments were rushed. And we went to Papa Omotosho, the power station there for us was a refurbished one and we made the recommendations.

Then the gas line project which was given for many years that ought to have taken gas to Kaduna power station was abandoned. All those things were in the recommendations.

Even this entrenched tradition of abandoning probe reports based on ethnic and geo-political considerations. Do you have confidence in the Buhari administration on the report that this Senate probe will be trying to come up with, should it succeed.

I think he will do that because he has zero tolerance for corruption from what I have seen so far. And if you see what is going on even those who may have assisted him during his campaign but now being tagged with even with little rumour of corruption, he is distancing himself which is very god.

So you have to think of the Senate concluding well because that is what is important. I believed that if the Senate concludes well and have undiluted report without being compromised, the federal government will act on it. In our report also, we had different sectors recommendations. We looked at governors that we went to their various states who took it seriously that federal projects were in their domain and they monitored it.

Like I gave an example of somebody buying 404million dollars and 1.545billion dollars, it is abnormal. How would you even sleep when you know you have made more than 400 percent profit on a nation you call your own country.

Yes, we saw those names and they were very shocking. Of course I have to take my people out because I came back one day and found out that they were going to set fire to my house.They came through Transcorp entrance and set fire thinking that it will go into the main house but God was very kind to me and it only burnt down the swimming pool side and also affected some parts of the house at the back and that was how we survived that one. Along the line, there was a time I brought it on the floor of the house when I was attacked and even lost some mobile policemen who were attached to me

But like I said, what Nigerians have suffered for the fact that we don’t have electricity to me is more important that you focus on ensuring that those who have caused us those pains are known even if they are not brought to book. And that is why Senate should do more by going in-depth to discover. But you may find out that probably those who are part of the committee members they have been sponsored by those people so it becomes very difficult, it is a cabal thing.

After the probe, I saw a few people in the media abusing us that we didn’t know what we were doing that we were just chasing shadows and know what not. And I didn’t want to respond because I felt it is not their fault, it is the system that has given them that right. If the house took a bold step by adhering to the rules and are committed, the next thing you be seeing is EFCC picking all of them up, before God and man it will stop.

And if you recall when we started the probe, every contractor who was claiming that they didn’t have money all rushed back to site. So where did you get the money from? Even when consultants will talk to them they will say they have not been paid even one naira. But when we started doing public hearing and started receiving reports that they have been paid money, they went to site. We have the pictures.

In fact, there was one at Ekotti Obasi or so, the man went and rented generators to show us that he has supplied the generators, but unfortunately for him I was the one standing in front of him when they were offloading the generators. We took the wrong route and they now said we should enter back into the bus, let them go back to assess the place and I said no, let us walk down, so we walked down. But I think some of the press and some other people then followed the bus to go back.

So I walked into him and he thought he was talking to the owner of the generators that he rented and he said I hear that that honourable is a wicked man, I hear that they are coming now, let me rush and put this, please be fast so that he will come and meet these generators as something that I have supplied and delivered. And I said really? He said yes oh, if the man comes here, he will arrest me but I said I am the man. The man almost collapsed.

Then some went and brought this quarter cabin, containers that they used in importing goods, locked it up and told us that the equipment they supplied are inside the containers.

You know, if you open it now it will be bad, they said except if we finish the basement then we now mount the transformer. I said to them open it. This was at Uyo or so but I cannot remember the name of the company now. We opened it and found out that there was nothing in the container. So these are issues, what we found out in the course of movement.

From all these, what lessons have you learnt considering the fact that after going through the whole process, the recommendations were thrown away and then you ended up in court. And then you were vindicated, you were discharged and acquitted. What lessons did you learn from all these?

Well, one, I found out some lessons and the lessons I learnt is that it is better that you are upright, to believe in a course and also not to be compromised because today we are talking about being vindicated, being acquitted. Imagine that I have compromised I would probably be in prison because there will be evidences to show that I have been compromised.

And in spite of what has happened in the house, people still believe that the truth needs to be told and that is why you people are here having this chat. It is also a lesson that one should always be straight forward, it is a lesson. But above all, is to always put God in everything one does. It is also a lesson because throughout that period He became most faithful one when suddenly I was accused to having stolen 5.12billion naira and even being accused under an agency that has already made recommendations about the agency. So in effect I am supposed to be an enemy of those people and the same me who is supposed to be an enemy of those people have gone there to solicit for contract. It was something I couldn’t just put together.

But you know, not being compromised assisted me because in my recommendation about that place I recommended that the agency itself was found of duplicating projects. And I made mention of the head that should be redeployed, it is there in my report in black and white.

So how can you finish doing probe recommending that this people should be redeployed you will join hands with them to award a contract. It was a laughable accusation. And why should EFCC think of what to go after, 5.2billion naira and 13.2billion dollars which one was more useful to the Nigerian people.

The contract you are talking about even though I have nothing to do with it, it was awarded to contractors. You seize their money, they went to court against you, in fact Femi Falana was the lawyer to one of the contractors and they won. And even while we were in court the then chairman of EFCC wrote to Bureau of Public Procurement, asking them to release the money of those contractors, I have a copy of the letter till tomorrow. So why do Nigerians tell lies. You said they stole money, you are also writing that that money is released, in fact they used the words deserved to be released.

So how can you want to have your cake and eat it? And then they now wanted to rush under accelerated hearing and I said no; you must bring prove of evidence of what you are accusing me of. Today they will retype their charges and remove it and put away and they will say they are rearranging.

So the lesson of not being compromised, lesson of believing in a course and following it to the fullest, the lesson of ensuring that things are done right and that even money cannot buy. Then the lesson I have learnt also is that it is not all that glitters that are gold because before the probe, there are personalities that I see, that I will almost want to say they are saints but I found out that they are not.

And I also found out that except you are in a position to champion a course, it will almost be impossible to champion that course and that is why I always tell people that perhaps President Buhari will succeed because he is a crusader of change and he is in the position to bring about change. The worst you can do is that you will not vote for him if he decides to run for 2019. But between now and 2019, he must bring that change that he promised Nigerians and that is by doing things right.

At his age what does he need? If from year one to 73years what else is left? The highest he can do now is probably 20, 27years to turn 100years. So how much does he need so survive? He does not need much. So the best he can do is to rewrite history so Nigerians can remember him as a president that came and corrected all that is wrong in Nigeria.

I could remember in one of the things I read, it could be wrong, that either his in-law did something wrong and he said the boy should return the money to that person. In other governments, that wouldn’t have been possible. So it takes a man that wants change to do that; so I believe that is the best way forward for us in Nigeria.

In the course of your probe, was there any time Obasanjo reached out to the committee through pseudo,or did he at any point tried to compromise your work? I think most of your clients were exactly projects in Obasanjo government. Do you also think you should re-probe separately since his government expended huge sums of money in the past?

Well, if I may borrow Baba’s usual language, he always says whatever that happens in my government hold me responsible. So even if he was not the minister; even if he was not the head of the agency; and what have you when some of these things happened. Perhaps like this office, if something gets missing here, first thing first who is the head of the office? It is the head of the office that will now say I am the head but I know who did it, hold that person responsible. But first thing is the person that is the owner of the promoter or the overall of the thing. So in putting it this way, nothing will happe.

Those were the angles that we looked at his own sign of because even if you look at the issue of waiver of due process, at the concluding side after the minister had written a memo to the council, it was him that signed and said approved. In a civilized society she will be asked questions as to why she did that but that is my take.

I think whether minutely or remotely or otherwise that some people may have acted on sentiment of being part of “his children”. If you were in Nigeria then you would recall that even in my committee there were some of them from that zone who came out vehemently. In fact, one said we didn’t know what we were doing, that we acted out of parliamentary process by inviting Baba. And after the report, the same person wrote the minority report. One would have expected somebody from outside the zone to do so but that person happens to be anointed son.

So I am not saying that anybody asked the person, it could be by the person’s personal conviction that things ought to have been done correctly.