By Michael Agbaji
The President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan given reasons why the Senate decided to organize an investigative hearing in the ongoing bid to concession the Zungeru Hydroelectric Power Plant(ZHPP) located in Niger State.
Senator Lawan stated this why declaring open the investigative hearing held on Tuesday at the National Assembly organised by the Senate Committee on Power in line with the resolution adopted by the Senate at its Plenary.
Accodinng to Lawan, the thrust of the motion is not targeted on any individual but to correct the mistake of the past.
He says,the sponsored of the investigation is the chairman of the committee, Senator Gabriel Suswan request the Senate to invoke its oversight constitutional responsibility to avert the transfer of unresolved liabilities and future third-party claims to government.
He further said, senate ensure that the proposed concession of the Zungeru Hydroelectric Power Plant (ZHPP) was conducted on a value for money bearing in mind huge external loans and annual budgetary releases expended on the construction.
Senator Lawan says,am glad to note that the committee has extended invitation to all concerned stakeholders to come forward with their inputs, observations and contributions to enable the committee in carrying out its mandate.
In his welcome address,the Chairman Senate Committee on power senator Gabriel Suswan says the concerns of the Senate is outcry and criticism by the public on culminated investigation in the past in the privatization policy of government.
According to him,the segment of the public has applauded the modest gains of the privatization of government-owned power assets in Nigeria, mounting challenges that emerged after the exercise in questioning the credibility of the process that produced the successor companies and the viability of such companies hence the need to caution the concessioning of the remaining government-owned power assets including the ZHPP.
He say,the Failure to address issues in the past has put government in an unenviable position where billions of naira are currently being paid to service contractual obligations that should have been avoided by government if proper due diligence and consultation was done by relevant MDAs.
“It is, therefore, expected that in the course of this investigative hearing, concerned stakeholders invited by the committee will take advantage of this avenue to answer the above posers and many more as may be directed at them by the chairman and members of the committee towards reaching informed recommendations that will form the final decision of the Senate at plenary regarding the bid to concession the ZHPP.
He concluded, by saying, the Senate recognizes the respective statutory roles of the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), the National Council on Privatization , the Bureau of Public Enterprises(BPE) and other MDAs involved in the proposed concession of the ZHPP, the Senate has a higher constitutional responsibility to carry out this investigative hearing to expose any semblance of corruption and inefficiency the system.
The Minister of Power Abubakar Aliyu give the reason why Concessioning is important to government that it will boost the power situation in Nigeria he urge National Assembly to support the concession for the interest of Nigeria.
Responding,the Committee turn down the request for concessioning the stakeholders for clarifications not make the mistake of the past.
