Democratic Socialist Movement

For Struggle, Solidarity and Socialism in Nigeria

By - DSM

Oyo State Government Independent Power Project:


National Conscience Party

Oyo State

PRESS STATEMENT

Oyo State Government Independent Power Project:

Another Avenue for Looting

We wish to react to the just concluded plan of the Oyo State Government to initiate an Independent Power Project (IPP) which it claims will serve as an alternative source of generating electricity to the already moribund and ineffective Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) for the benefit of people of the state.

The Adebayo Alao-Akala State Government has put in place a committee to prepare a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with a private power development company called INTERAF and resolved to commit the whooping sum of $5m as a counterpart fund for the project.

As laudable as this project may look like, we make bold to say that it is an attempt at squandering and looting the taxpayers’ money of the good people of Oyo State. For it is no fault of the poor masses that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the national level under President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration has today, after committing a whooping sum of N1.28 trillion into the NEPA and later PHCN between May, 1999 to December, 2005, refused to provide uninterrupted electricity supply for Nigerians, when Ghana, a West African country celebrated five years uninterrupted power supply few years ago.

How do we trust Alao-Akala’s administration on this project when the Minister of Power and Steel, Mr. Liyel Imoke has said Nigerians will not enjoy stable power supply until the year 2056! What an insult to a country that makes a minimum of $190 million (N27 billion) daily just from the sales of crude oil alone with the foreign reserve hitting over $36 billion (N5 trillion) as at May 2006. Yet, with these enormous resources being realized daily by government through the sale of crude oil, Nigerians still suffer with well over 75% of Nigerians living below $1 (N140) a day poverty level. What an irony!

The Lagos State government example readily comes to mind when one thinks of a white elephant project like this. Billions of naira was committed into a similar independent power project in Lagos State in partnership with the later collapsed American energy company, ENRON. Today, the huge resources have gone down the drain without anything to show for it. So, the option of privatisation is another corruption in disguise by whatever means.

What Nigeria needs is not the current 3,000 megawatts of electricity being supplied to PHCN to distribute to about 130 million Nigerians, the country needs 50,000 megawatts for stable power, says Mr. Joe Ajaero, General Secretary of National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) (Guardian May 4, 2006). South Africa with a population of 40 million people, generates 40,000 megawatts of electricity. Then, it is unfortunate that the PDP led government under Obasanjo has plunged us into perpetual darkness now till 2056! Yet, they want to continue to rule us at all levels. We say enough is enough. This is the time to save the Nigerian masses from the man-made unmitigated poverty.

OUR DEMANDS

(1) We say categorical no to the attempt of committing $5 million, Oyo State money to this white elephant project meant for cronies of government officials.

(2) Privatisation of public assets and government properties is nothing but an unconstitutional and illegal act meant to promote corruption, profligacy, ineptitude, mass retrenchment, mass unemployment, insecurity, hopelessness, etc. Section 16, sub-section 4(a) in the Nigerian Constitution is very apt when it says that the major sectors of the Nigerian economy must be regulated and controlled by the Federal Government. It must never be sold and never be privatised. So, we oppose this unconstitutional act and demand the re-nationalisation of all the privatised public assets that must be properly funded from the resources of the country in government trust.

(3) The Federal Government should build more power plants and improve the existing ones.

We call on the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Congress of Free Trade Union (CFTU), Trade Union Congress (TUC), National Union of Electricity Employee (NUEE), human right groups, civil society and all change-seeking groups and individuals to join the NCP to mobilise and initiate mass resistance against this attempt of day light robbery. We also call all the people (Nigerian youths/students, workers and poor masses) to join and vote for NCP, for it is going to commit the stupendous resources of the society to the provision of not only electricity power supply, but also to all other basic necessities of life such as healthcare, water, food, good roads, education, decent jobs, etc.

Alayande Stephen T.
Publicity Secretary
NCP, Oyo State
No 6, Odeku Close,
Favours Bus Stop,
New Bodija Estate,
Ibadan,
Oyo State
Tel: 08034700378, 08056112687, 08032148782