Don’t Pretend You Care About National Grid, You, Obasanjo Invested $16 Billion To Procure Darkness For Nigeria, Sowore Tackles Atiku
The presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) and convener of #RevolutionNow, Omoyele Sowore, has berated the former Nigerian Vice President and presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar over his reaction to the National Grid collapse.
Atiku on Wednesday after it was announced that the National Grid collapsed for the 6th time posted on his verified Twitter page, his displeasure over the repeated collapse of the grid that has continued to throw Nigerians into darkness.
Among other things he said on the thread, Atiku had noted, “I am reliably informed that there was a total National Grid Collapse at precisely 12:23pm today. This is one collapse too many. It is the 6th time this is happening this year alone.”
Reacting to Atiku’s tweet, Sowore said, “The National Electrical grid collapse started when you and Obasanjo invested $16 billion to procure darkness for Nigeria, the @MBuhari regime came to gazette grid collapse as a law.
“Alhaji @atiku, don’t pretend that you care about the National Grid!”
The National Electrical grid collapse started when you and Obasanjo invested $16 billion to procure darkness for Nigeria, the @MBuhari regime came to gazette grid collapse as a law. Alhaji @atiku, don’t pretend that you care about the National Grid! #WeCantContinueLikeThis
— Omoyele Sowore (@YeleSowore) July 20, 2022
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has been accused of spending $16 billion on the National Integrated Power Project (NIPP) to increase Nigeria’s power generation to 10,000 megawatts.
However, when President Muhammadu Buhari came to power and vowed to probe the alleged $16 billion investment in the national power sector, Obasanjo denied the allegation, describing it as “incorrect information based on ignorance.”
The House of Representatives had in 2008 described the alleged $16 billion spent on power projects between 1999 and 2007 as “a colossal waste.”
Civil Society groups including SERAP had called for a probe of the funds but in a statement by the Media Aide to the former President, Kehinde Akinyemi, published by the International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR), Obasanjo denied the allegation.
He said, “It has come to the attention of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo that a statement credited to President Muhammadu Buhari, apparently without correct information and based on ignorance, suggested that $16 billion was wasted on power projects by “a former President”.
“We believe that the President was re-echoing the unsubstantiated allegation against Chief Obasanjo.”