Babatunde Fashola, the former Governor of
Lagos State and current Minister of Power, Housing and Works has been slammed by Nigerians over his comment about the Government and power.
Fashola
who claimed that the federal government is not responsible for
non-availability of electricity to Nigerians, stirred divergent
reactions from Nigerians on social media with the comment. The minister,
while acknowledging that there were problems in the power sector,
explained that it was not the Federal Government’s problem if citizens
in the country do not have electricity, especially since the sector was
privatized.
Fashola said, “There are problems without a
doubt and we must deal with them. But let me remind you, all of the
assets that the Ministry of Power used to control for power have been
sold by the last administration before I came. And so if you don’t have
power, it is not the government’s problem. Let us be honest.
“The
people who are operating the power sector, generation and distribution
are now privately owned companies. I am here because I am concerned. If
your telephone is not working, it is not the minister of communication
that you go to. Let us be very clear.
“So for those of you who
want to weaponise electricity, face the businessmen who have taken it
up. Let us be honest. If your bank over-charges you interest, is it the
minister of finance you go to? So let’s be clear. This is now a private
business by Act of parliament 2005.
“My role is regulatory,
oversight and policy, but I have a problem which is the fact that I
can’t see a problem and turn my back, so I’m getting involved.
“So the people you should be talking to about transformers is not me, the ministry doesn’t supply transformers anymore.”
“I
think that NERC (Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission) is the
referee of the game. I am FIFA (Federation of International Football
Association). And it is not right as you said that FIFA gets involved,
because whether the referee makes a mistake or not the goal stands.
“So the FIFA
man does not enter the field to say go and change the result, but it’s
an interesting analogy that I’ve also contemplated in my head and that’s
why you didn’t catch me by too much surprise.
“However, it is important to allow the referee to continue to decide the game because investors like to know who decides.”
While
some social media users recounted how Fashola said in 2014 that “a
serious Government will fix the power problem in six months”, others
stated that he has always been overrated.
Here are some tweets over the power comment below;
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