Oshiomhole to Buhari: You need to revisit Obasanjo’s ‘$16bn power project’

Adams Oshiomhole, national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to recover the $16 billion allegedly spent on power under ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo.

In May, Buhari said Obasanjo had questions to answer over the project.

“Where was the power after a former president claimed to have spent $16 billion on the project?,” Buhari had asked.

But the former president denied any wrong doing.

Speaking after John Oyegun, ex-national chairman of the party, handed over to him, Oshiomhole said the APC should support Buhari in the fight against corruption.

“Opposition could not say he is not fighting corruption, they say it is selective and I have been reflecting on that. How can it be that what the whole world can see, the local people cannot see it and as I was reflecting,” the former Edo governor said.

“I watched our president recently asking questions – you have spent $16 billion – PDP under the former president – on power, our president said ‘where is power?’ For emphasis he repeated ‘where is the power?’

“Nigerians in their various homes that day with generator said ‘Mr President, we don’t have’. $16 billion spent on power? The more dollars spent, the more darkness. Maybe because the president has not yet proceeded to now ask the follow-up question, since we can’t find the power, you must produce the $16 billion spent.

“If he doesn’t do that, then the accusation of limited anti-corruption [fight] will begin to have some relevance. Our president needs to do the needful. He can proceed to recover the $16 billion back into the treasury from the man who superintended over the spending of that money.

“All we have to do as a party is to provide the support that Mr President needs. They want to distract attention when they are in trouble and say ‘oh they want to kill me’.”

The chairman said since Buhari assumed power no politcian of note has been murdered.

“Since President Buhari assumed office, no politican of note as been assassinated for political reasons but a president whose watch a minister of justice was murdered in cold blood. A minister murdered in cold blood. That minister could not get justice,” he said.