Saraki Goes Blunt On ‘Epileptic’ Power Supply, Lambasts Executive

In a series of tweets on Tuesday morning, Saraki described the power sector as the “most significant challenge to economic development”.

According to the Senate President, the Power sector was privatized solely for the selfish benefits of some individuals, noting that the Distribution Companies were sold to incompetent hands to manage.

Today, we will gather to seek solution to 1 of, if not the most significant challenge to our quest for economic development; ADEQUATE POWER

— Bukola Saraki (@bukolasaraki) February 7, 2017

Power sector in spite of enormous resources committed in last 14yrs has remained in a perilous state, delivering very disappointing results.

— Bukola Saraki (@bukolasaraki) February 7, 2017

Today, power sector is on verge of a total systemic breakdown and I see this as an opportunity to stop this train from derailing completely

— Bukola Saraki (@bukolasaraki) February7, 2017

Opportunities for both Executive & legislature to come together to forge a solution to the perennial problem have been wasted in the past.

— Bukola Saraki (@bukolasaraki) February 7, 2017

We cannot afford to waste opportunity we have now. We owe it to people who have entrusted us with the privilege of working out solutions

— Bukola Saraki (@bukolasaraki) February 7, 2017

We owe it to people who have entrusted us with the privilege of electing us to work out solutions not complaints to address power issue

— Bukola Saraki (@bukolasaraki) February7, 2017

We cannot shy away from the fact that inexcusable mistakes have been made in the past that brought the power sector to this point

— Bukola Saraki (@bukolasaraki) February7, 2017

We must be willing to face up to mistakes and clearly delineate them in order to ensure that we do not return to the mistakes of the past

— Bukola Saraki (@bukolasaraki) February 7, 2017

Some mistakes were innocent, some product of selfish interests, fraud, others borne out of ignorance or glaring lack of capacity

— Bukola Saraki (@bukolasaraki) February 7, 2017

To get power right, sacrifice has to be made & borne by all. We must agree to put Nigeria 1st & our contributions to this must be genuine.

— Bukola Saraki (@bukolasaraki) February 7, 2017

Some will lose money, jobs may be lost, investment gestation may extend but govt must as well be sincerely committed to solving the issue

— Bukola Saraki (@bukolasaraki) February 7, 2017

Government must as well be sincerely committed to providing the right environment and fulfill its part of the deal without equivocation.

— Bukola Saraki (@bukolasaraki) February 7, 2017

Unless all players speak frankly, open-mindedly & honestly we will not get the right solutions to power issues

— Bukola Saraki (@bukolasaraki) February 7, 2017

I will be blunt & specific in my contribution & hopefully that will set tone for not-so-politically-correct deliberations on Power today

— Bukola Saraki (@bukolasaraki) February 7, 2017

Where we are is not an accident. We walked our way into the landmine we are facing with the decisions we made in the past on power sector

— Bukola Saraki (@bukolasaraki) February 7, 2017

While privatization is a right policy recipe to pursue in order to put in place a power sector that can galvanize our economy…..

— Bukola Saraki (@bukolasaraki) February 7, 2017

We forgot that participation of the private sector is not an end in itself

— Bukola Saraki (@bukolasaraki) February 7, 2017

We sold the discos to individuals and parties who had no idea about running a proper power distribution business.

— Bukola Saraki (@bukolasaraki) February 7, 2017

Licenses were issues based on cronyism rather than capital adequacy, market experience and capacity to deliver.

— Bukola Saraki (@bukolasaraki) February7, 2017

Agreements were faulty and transaction integrity hardly imperative.

— Bukola Saraki (@bukolasaraki) February 7, 2017

BPE did things that were inexcusable. To imagine that sale proceeds of about $4bn was solely spent towards the payment of pensions & staff.

— Bukola Saraki (@bukolasaraki) February 7, 2017

Not one single kobo of $4billion from proceed of privatisation of power was expended towards catalyzing the sector back to life.

— Bukola Saraki (@bukolasaraki) February 7, 2017

GENCOS bought generating units without a clear assurance of source of gas to fire plants and government had no active roadmap for delivery

— Bukola Saraki (@bukolasaraki) February 7, 2017

Gas companies & IOCs were exporting our gas out of Nigeria to create gas markets elsewhere in Europe & Asia while we languished in darkness

— Bukola Saraki (@bukolasaraki) February 7, 2017

In the face of all these our people continued to be called upon to bear inexplicable bills estimated beyond rationale service value.

— Bukola Saraki (@bukolasaraki) February 7, 2017

While issue persists, implications all these ve created has continued to mount on all fronts with stagnating growth statistics, loss of jobs

— Bukola Saraki (@bukolasaraki) February 7, 2017

Wherever you go in Nigeria, nothing represents failure of govt & leadership in mind of Nigerians like the epileptic power situation

— Bukola Saraki (@bukolasaraki) February 7, 2017

Power is at highest priority list of our people. Our people are demanding that we do all that is in our power to reverse this long blight

— Bukola Saraki (@bukolasaraki) February7, 2017