Group warns National Assembly against futile probes

August 23, 2015 : Ade Adesomoju, Abuja Leave a Comment

The Civil Society Network against Corruption has warned the National Assembly to desist from embarking on probes that produce no tangible results.

CSNAC, a coalition of about 150 anti-corruption organisations, in a statement by its chairman, Mr. Olanrewaju Suraju, on Sunday, made the call against the backdrop of an ad hoc committee recently set up by the Senate to investigate the management of funds appropriated for power sector since 1999.

The said Senate ad-hoc committee was also mandate to probe the unbundling of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria.


CSNAC condemned “the continuous futility of constitution of panels by the Senate to probe various national issues of alleged fraud”.

The group said though it shared the concern of the Senate over the state of power supply in the country, previous legislative probes had constituted mere distractions ‎and that the fresh probe might just provide “an escape route for people behind the mismanagement of our power sector”.

‎It therefore called on the National Assembly to send previous reports of probe on the power sector to various anti-corruption agencies that were empowered to investigate misuse of public funds.

The stated, “While we are in alignment with the Senate’s concern on the parlous state of power supply in the country, despite billions of naira that have been invested in the power sector, we believe probes by Senate are mere distractions as previous probes undertaken by the Assembly have produced no tangible result. So far, it has all amounted to waste of national resources which the country cannot afford at this moment.

“The assembly should forward information at its disposal, from previous probes, to anti-corruption agencies who actually own the responsibility to investigate the use/ misuse of appropriated funds.

“The previous Assembly are equally culpable in the corruption that bedeviled the power sector. Many application and misappropriation happened with active connivance and under the supervision of National Assembly members.

“This proposed probe is therefore nothing but a deliberate distraction and possibly an attempt at creating an escape route for people behind the mismanagement of our power sector.

“The National Assembly must realise and be alive to its primary legislative responsibility of law making and oversight functions. The Assembly should legislate to prevent a repeat of situations leading to our current state of affairs in the power sector.

“Expectations of Nigerians from the 8th Assembly are very high. No distraction and below standard performance can be tolerated.”