The Minister of Power, Babatunde Fashola has questioned the propriety or otherwise of the hiring a consultant, Ron Van Arnault by the House of Representatives for its investigation of Transition Company of Nigeria’s (TCN) $1.5b World Bank loan facility for improved power supply in the country.
Accordingto Fashola, the consultant was responsible for the management problems suffered by the agency under the previous management.
Fashola spoke yesterday at the House Committee on Power’s investigative hearing on the interim management of TCN for the apparent delay in the execution of the National Electricity and Gas Improvement Project (NEGIP) where he pleaded that the lawmakers streamline their invitation of public officers to allow them enough time for their official duties .
The Minister wondered why Ron Van Arnault was commissioned as consultant by the Power Committee, while he was working with Manitoba and responsible for the management breakdown suffered by TCN under the previous administration.
Manitoba Hydro International Nigeria Ltd, a Canadian company, was awarded the management contract for TCN in 2012 but the contract was terminated in 2016 for its failure to reinvigorate the company.
Asked to explain why he questioned the involvement of the Van Arnault, Fashola said that the consultant apart from having worked for Manitoba, also benefited from contracts awarded without procurement approval in the Ministry.
He said the consultant can not be totally professional in providing advice to the committee.
Chairman of the Committee, Dan Asuquo however reminded the Minister that he was not in a position to condemn the Committee’s decision and endorsed by him as Chairman to hire Van Arnault as a consultant to the Committee.
Asuquo went further to reveal that he has text messages exchanged between Fashola and the consultant wherein the Minister solicited for his professional advise.
He said: “Just as you have your reasons for taking decisions, I also have my reasons for hiring Mr. Ron and it’s not up to you to question our decision.
“Today, Mr. Eugene Edozie is seated here as PermSec of your Ministry, but I could remember in 7th Assembly, I served on a panel that investigated him on an allegation that he didn’t have NYSC certificate, and we recommended that he be removed from the post he was holding at the National Integrated Power Project (NIPP), but he’s your Perm Sec and you have not questioned his qualifications”.
On the management of time and multiple invitations to the National Assembly, Fashola complained that the initiations are taking a toll on the productivity of public officers.
He pleaded that the lawmakers synegize and streamline the number of hearings involving the TCN since the subject matter was related.
He said: “Like the representative of the Speaker rightly pointed out, we closed here last week, and we are resuming this week with this committee.
“Committees of the House also will be asking us of our budget performance, and we just need to work in the office so that we can also perform.
“So I think there’s a sense here that I respectfully ask you to sufficiently use this time so we can also work to serve the Nigerian people”.
For emphasis, Fashola said the Ministry got a letter dated 20 December, 2017 and issued by Nnamdi D. Onuigwe Esqr, Comittee Clerk stating that the House has constituted an adhoc committee on the need to investigate the Fiscal Responsibility and Procurement Acts by the TCN, in pursuant to House resolution 114/ADHOT/TCN2 of the 20 December.
“Now, we were waiting to be invited by the adhoc committee when we got this letter asking us to come today, signed by Ibrahim Sidi, Committee Clerk pursuant to House resolution 189 of 5th December 2017.
“Although, it’s headed as “Need To facilitate Swift action on management of TCN Electric Power Reforms, it goes in the body to ask us to come and explain to this investigative committee the interim management of TCN on the delay in the implementation of projects such as the Nigerian Electricity Gas Improvement project that will improve power sector in Nigeria.
“So I seek clarification in order to assist the committee in its work and if it’s possible to harmonise all of what we want to do together, bearing in mind that this House substantially is handling some possibly over-lapping issues”, he said.
Comittee Chairman, Asuquo however denied contradiction or ambiguity in the letters but nonetheless assured that the leadership would seek ways of harmonising the terms of reference of both committees with the regards to the TCN probes.
Earlier, Speaker Yakubu Dogara, while declaring open the hearing though restated the commitment of the House to tackle the challenges bedeviling the power sector, nonetheless expressed concern over the delay in the execution of such projects with the potential to improve electricity supply in the country.
“We cannot emphasize enough the pride of place that electricity occupies in the life of any modern nation. Indeed, electricity is the lifeblood of our national economy. This is why any issue that affects the power sector always receives priority attention from the House of Representatives in particular and the National Assembly in general.
“We will continue to revisit the challenges that confront the power sector as that is the only way to fix the sector and get our country firmly on her way to unleashing her enormous industrial and developmental potentials.”
He said the intervention of the House on the matter should not be misconstrued as interference in the job of the executive.
“However, there is a corollary to this doctrine which is that there is the need for the arms of government to apply some checks on each other in order to create a balance in the system. Today’s hearing is one of the ways that the National Assembly exercises its checks on the executive arm of government.”
According to him, the aim of public hearings is to give room for fair hearing and citizen participation in legislative processes, and called on all stakeholders present to cooperate with the committee in order for its work to be