$16bn IPP fund: I’m ready for probe, but first learn how to read, Obasanjo tells Buhari

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, on Tuesday, said that he is ready for probe over the $16 billion Independent Power Project (IPP) the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari had alleged was mismanaged by him; he challenged the President to learn how to read first before embarking on unnecessary probes.

President Buhari receiving members of the Buhari Support Organisations (BSO) led by the Comptroller-General of Customs, Col. Hameed Ali, at the Presidential Villa on Tuesday, had stated: ‘‘one of the former Heads of State was bragging that he spent more than 15 billion USD on power in Nigeria. Where is the power?’’

President Buhari’s attack on Dr. Obasanjo generated immediate response from the former President who challenged Buhari to learn how to read the books he had written on the topic in a “language he can understand”.

Obasanjo’s media aide in a statement, declared: “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 by his own predecessor.”

Obasanjo noted the National Assembly had exculpated him of any wrong-doing relating to the power sector and determined the allegations were false.

 “For the records, Chief Obasanjo has addressed the issues of the power sector and the allegations against him on many occasions and platforms, including in his widely publicised book, My Watch, in which he exhaustively stated the facts and reproduced various reports by both the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which conducted a clinical investigation into the allegations against Chief Obasanjo, and the Ad-Hoc Committee on the Review of the Recommendations in the Report of the Committee on Power on the Investigation into how the Huge Sums Of Money was Spent on Power Generation, Transmission And Distribution between June 1999 and May 2007 without Commensurate Result,” the media Office stated.

Obasanjo advised Buhari and his co-travellers to read Chapters 41, 42, 43 and 47 of My Watch for his insights and perspectives on the power sector and, indeed, what transpired when the allegation of $16 billion on power projects was previously made.

 “If he cannot read the three-volume book, he should detail his aides to do so and summarise the chapters in a language that he will easily understand,” Obasanjo further advised.

The battle between former President Obasanjo and incumbent President Buhari began in the open after Obasanjo’s famous statement on January 23, 2018, where he highlighted the failures of Buhari in the past three years, admonishing him to forego seeking re-election in 2019 for a second term.