Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, has
said that it is not the Federal government's problem if some Nigerians do not
have electricity.
Punch reports that the Minister said this when he spoke at
the Nextier Power Dialogue which held in Abuja yesterday December 12th.
“There are problems without a doubt and we must deal with
them. But let me remind you, all of the assets that the Ministry of Power used
to control for power have been sold by the last administration before I came.
And so if you don’t have power, it is not the government’s problem. Let us be
honest. The people who are operating the power sector, generation and
distribution are now privately owned companies. I am here because I am concerned.
If your telephone is not working, it is not the minister of communication that
you go to. Let us be very clear. So for those of you who want to weaponise
electricity, face the businessmen who have taken it up. Let us be honest. If
your bank over-charges you interest, is it the minister of finance you go to?
So let’s be clear. This is now a private business by Act of parliament
2005. My role is regulatory, oversight
and policy, but I have a problem which is the fact that I can’t see a problem
and turn my back, so I’m getting involved. So the people you should be talking
to about transformers is not me, the ministry doesn’t supply transformers
anymore.”
When asked to take the blame since he is the head of the
Ministry of Power with the Gencos and Discos under his authority, Fashola said
“I think that NERC (Nigerian Electricity Regulatory
Commission) is the referee of the game. I am FIFA (Federation of International
Football Association). And it is not right as you said that FIFA gets involved,
because whether the referee makes a mistake or not the goal stands.
“So the FIFA man does not enter the field to say go and
change the result, but it’s an interesting analogy that I’ve also contemplated
in my head and that’s why you didn’t catch me by too much surprise. However, it
is important to allow the referee to continue to decide the game because
investors like to know who decides.”
