Sokoto State House of Assembly has summoned the Commissioner for Energy and Petroleum Resources, Alhaji Sanusi Danfulani, to appear before the Assembly on Tuesday, August 5, over his failure to honour an oversight visit by the House Committee on Science and Technology.
The summon followed the commissioner’s absence, along with other key officials, during the committee’s oversight visit to the Ministry on Thursday.
The Chairman of the Committee, Alhaji Awaisu Aliyu (APC, Gada West), described the commissioner’s absence as a clear demonstration of negligence and disregard for legislative authority.
“The committee duly informed the ministry about the oversight visit, yet the commissioner and his officials were absent without any formal or informal communication.
“This undermines our constitutional right and responsibility to carry out oversight functions.
“As such, the Commissioner is directed to appear before the Assembly on Tuesday, August 5, to explain his actions or face necessary sanctions,” Aliyu said.
The oversight visit was aimed at inspecting the Independent Power Project ,IPP, being executed by the ministry—an Initiative that has attracted widespread public criticism due to prolonged delays and cost variations.
A resident of Sokoto metropolis, Alhaji Abubakar Illiya, described the IPP as an overdue and wasteful project.
“This project has consumed billions of Naira without any visible impact. It’s become a drain on government resources.
“If this money had been invested in sectors like education or agriculture, thousands would have benefitted”, he said.
Illiya appealed to the government to stop committing more resources to projects that enrich a few individuals without benefiting society.
Similarly, Malam Musa Bello, acknowledged the potential of the IPP to improve electricity supply and boost commercial activities but criticised the execution of the project.
“The IPP was a promising initiative, but due to its prolonged implementation, it has become a financial sinkhole, were every administration introduces new variations, and no progress is seen”, he said.
Bello warned that unless decisive action was taken, the project may continue to consume public funds without yielding meaningful results.
The News Agency of Nigeria ,NAN, reports that the 38-megawatt capacity IPP was awarded in 2008 to a US-based firm, Vulcan Capital Energy, at an initial cost of N3.8 billion with a completion timeline of six months.
Since then, the project’s deadline has been repeatedly shifted from September 2009 to December 2010, July 2011, and then to September 2013, August 2014, November 2016, and December 2019.
In 2020, an additional N1.7 billion was allocated to the project and earlier this year, the present administration approved another N950 million, promising completion and operation within six months.
