Unstable electricity disturbs Senate probe of Obasanjo, Jonathan

monjola sotubo 14:16 - 10 September 2015

Bukola Saraki

Electricity supply to the Senate chamber was cut eight times between the hours of 11:30 am, when the proceedings began, to 2pm, according to reports.

It was a case of irony in the Nigerian Senate on Tuesday, September 9, 2015, when a series of power outages disrupted an ongoing probe of how the country’s power sector was managed under former Presidents, Olusegun Obasanjo, Goodluck Jonathan and late Umaru Yar’adua.

The development was said to have frustrated the session after stakeholders were forced to use lights from their mobile phones to make presentations.

The probe is being carried out by a 13-member ad-hoc committee which was inaugurated on Thursday, August 13.

Committee Chairman, Senator Abubakar Kyari however said that the outages were an attempt to sabotage the probe.

He said:

“The power outages experienced here today (yesterday) further underscores the relevance of this committee at this critical time, but we shall investigate whether or not they are deliberate.”

During an earlier hearing, it was revealed that 2.740 trillion had been spent on Nigeria’s power sector since 1999 when Obasanjo assumed office.