A former Minister of Power, Barth Nnaji has accused marketers of Diesel in the country of sabotaging the government’s plan to achieve a stable power supply in the country.
The former minister who served under the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan said as long as diesel suppliers and generator dealers continue with the act, the quest by Nigerians to enjoy stable electricity will remain a mirage.
Recall that the professor was unceremoniously removed from office in August 2012 by the former president after serious pressure was said to have been mounted on him.
For years, the efforts by the government to ensure stable power have remained elusive despite more than N7 trillion believed to have been spent to revive the sector.
Last month, the national grid collapsed twice as Nigerians expressed cast more doubts on the capacity of the current administration to turn things around in the sector despite its promise to do so.
But Prof. Nnaji said the situation could remain the same so long as the diesel and generator suppliers are sabotaging the efforts to revive the sector because they believe “stable power supply would destroy their business.”
He said, “Nigeria is a big user of generatorsr because of our enormous power need and those who are in the business would not want any interruption.
“The diesel suppliers feel that stable power supply would destroy their business.
“A graphic picture of how dangerous the diesel suppliers can be was experienced when we were in government, somewhere in this country, some men cut down 30KVA line to stop electricity supply to thousands of users.
“Unfortunately, the diesel supplying company sponsored the operation.
“Incidentally the power cable fell on one of them, who later confessed to the crime.”
Checks showed that Nigeria has the lowest access to electricity globally, with about 90 million persons out of the country’s 200 million population lacking access to power, according to the Energy Progress Report 2022 released by Tracking SDG 7.
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