Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has challenged the Federal Government to conduct a comprehensive audit of all intervention funds injected into the power sector, questioning official claims that debts owed to electricity generation companies (GenCos) have been substantially settled.
Atiku, in a statement issued on Wednesday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, said recent remarks by the Executive Secretary of the Association of Power Generation Companies (APGC), Dr. Joy Ogaji, had cast serious doubt on the government’s claims regarding payments to GenCos.
He said Dr. Ogaji’s disclosure that the widely publicised ₦501 billion bond had not been fully disbursed, despite government announcements, raises troubling questions about transparency, accountability and fiscal management in the nation’s power sector.
According to Atiku, the APGC has challenged the Federal Government to publish the names of the beneficiary generation companies, the amount paid to each, the dates of payment and the outstanding balances, insisting that Nigerians deserve to know how public funds have been utilised.
The former vice president noted that repeated announcements of intervention funds and bond issuances have only deepened uncertainty, as GenCos continue to insist that huge outstanding debts remain unpaid.
He questioned why the government was seeking fresh borrowing to address the same challenge it had earlier claimed to have resolved.
“The question is no longer whether the government is borrowing. The question is why Nigerians are repeatedly being asked to applaud fresh borrowing to solve a problem that government insists it solved only yesterday,” the statement said.
Atiku maintained that every kobo borrowed in the name of Nigerians must be properly accounted for, stressing that transparency is a constitutional responsibility, not a favour.
He called on the Federal Government to immediately publish details of all payments made to electricity generation companies and disclose the actual status of outstanding obligations.
The former vice president also urged the National Assembly, the Auditor-General of the Federation and other oversight agencies to carry out a comprehensive public audit of all power sector intervention funds raised under the current administration.
According to him, the audit should reveal the total amount borrowed, how much has been disbursed, the beneficiaries and why the sector continues to grapple with mounting debts despite repeated assurances by the government.
Atiku added that the success of any intervention in the power sector should be measured by improved electricity supply and better service delivery, not by the number of bond announcements.
