Reports indicate that President Bola Tinubu has previously stated his intention to probe the alleged $16 billion spent on power projects during former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration if he is re-elected.
This commitment aligns with a long-standing controversy surrounding the significant investment in the power sector between 1999 and 2007, which many Nigerians feel did not translate into a commensurate improvement in electricity supply.
The issue of the $16 billion (or sometimes cited as $13.8 billion) power project expenditure under Obasanjo has been a recurring point of contention in Nigerian politics.
Various bodies, including the House of Representatives and civil society organizations like SERAP, have previously called for investigations into how the funds were utilized, with some reports suggesting a “colossal waste.”
While the current Minister of Power, Adedayo Adelabu, has recently stated that approximately $8 billion of the reported sum was actually spent and that many of the National Integrated Power Projects (NIPP) initiated during that period are visible and contributing to the nation’s power supply, the controversy surrounding the full $16 billion remains.
It is important to note that President Tinubu is currently serving his first term, and a re-election would be for another four-year term in 2027.
His prospects for re-election are a subject of ongoing political discourse, with some allies asserting his uncontested nomination, while critics point to economic hardships and other challenges as potential hurdles.
