TheCable

The Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) says ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo is yet to answer President Muhammadu Buhari’s question on the $16 billion power expenditure from 1999-2007.

On Tuesday, Buhari queried the funds said to have been expended on power projects during the Obasanjo administration.

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

But Obasanjo responded by saying the president is ignorant, and that he is ready for a probe.

In a statement on Thursday, Austin Braimoh and Cassidy Madueke, chairman and secretary of the group, said Obasanjo failed to address the burning issue.

“Nigerians may be many things, but they are not fools. They would definitely have been able to tell if the $16bn allocated to power projects was actually expended as proposed,” the statement read.

“Even the poorest mathematicians among us would have been able to calculate the disbursement of that amount in the increased number of hours per day their light bulbs, television sets and refrigerators stayed on.

“It would have been impossible to not feel the impact of the $16 billion dollars on power, if the money had actually been spent on power.

“Chief Obasanjo exculpates himself by referring to probes and investigations which found him blameless. But, the fact remains that the invisible $16bn power projects took place under his watch.”