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From Okwe Obi, Abuja
There appears to be no end in sight in the ongoing probe of the Azura power deal which gulps $33 million monthly, as the House of Representatives, has summoned the Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed, and Minister of Power Abubakar Aliyu.
The House Committee on Finance, during a resumed investigative hearing in Abuja, also invited the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, (NERC), Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading (NBET), Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) and the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP).
In 2013, the federal government through NERC, TCN, NBET, among others, signed an agreement with Azura located in Edo State, to generate 450 megawatts of electricity at the cost of $33 million monthly.
The project, which is expected to last for 20 years, will gulp $7.920 billion upon completion in 2032.
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The committee had invited the Chief Executive Officer of TCN, Sule Abdulaziz, to explain why funds spent on electricity generation were asymmetrical to the output of power generated by Power Generation Companies (GenCos), particularly the Azura power company.
In his defence, Abdulaziz claimed that paucity of was responsible for the erratic power generation.
Displeased by his excuse, the Committee, chaired by James Faleke, resolved to invite heads of agencies.
Faleke, who did fix a date or time for the investigation, said: “We have adjoined this sitting. We will invite NBET, TCN, NERC, Niger Delta Power Commission, ministry of power, Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), ministry of finance.
“So, we will invite all these agencies and their principals and heads of the bureau to appear. We will communicate to them in an appropriate time that is convenient for all of us and a later date.”
