How Obasanjo, Atiku wasted $16bn on electricity, punished me for being in opposition – Tinubu

Presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress, on Tuesday, accused former President Olusegun Obasanjo and his Vice President, Atiku Abubakar of spending $16.5 billion on the nation’s power sector without any results.

According to Tinubu, Atiku, who is the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, confirmed that the money was spent on electricity between 1999 and 2007.

Recall that Tinubu was the Lagos State governor during the eight years rule of Obasanjo and Atiku.

While Tinubu was answering questions at a town hall meeting held in Calabar, capital of Cross River on Tuesday, he maintained that PDP under Obasanjo and Atiku failed to provide electricity for Nigerians, urging Nigerians not to vote for the party in 2023.

Tinubu said, “Power is the biggest human discovery in the last 1000 years. Tell me what you can do without power. That is why the so-called PDP must never come back. They spent 16.5 (billion) dollars some years back, Obasanjo and Atiku.

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“Atiku said it with his mouth that they collected our money from even local governments, states and others, but they didn’t know what they did with it. They could not provide a kilowatt to roast a corn. What they have forgotten is that the colonial masters left a transmission line for us in a centralised form.”

The APC presidential flagbearear, however, alleged that he was punished by Obasanjo and Atiku for bringing power to Lagos because he was not a member of the PDP.

He added, “I brought power for Lagos State, instead of embracing intellect and good idea, they (Obasanjo and Atiku) punished me for it because I was in the opposition.

“Never again should you give them any opportunity for power. We gave them opportunity, they balkanized the power, balkanized the transmission. They didn’t know it is a highway for evacuation of electricity, they didn’t know it should be maintained, they didn’t know it should be decentralized. Generation, they balkanized it, shared it among their friends; distribution, no metre, they give you estimated billing. Reject them. Any government under PDP is a curse.”

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