Generator suppliers was the reason behind my resignation -Former Minister for power Barth Nnaji

Fourteen months after his sudden exit from
President Goodluck Jonathan’s cabinet, ex-
Minister of Power, Prof. Barth Nnaji, on
Friday opened up on the “powerful interests”
he claimed forced him out of office.
Nnaji accused unnamed generator and diesel
suppliers as well as sundry government
contractors in the power sector of being
behind his sudden resignation from office.
Nnaji, who is the Chairman and Chief
Executive Officer of Geometric Power Limited,
however, took glory for the successful
handover of the successor companies of the
Power Holding Company of Nigeria which
took place on Friday.
The former minister spoke at Bells University
of Technology, Ota, Ogun State, where he
delivered the institution’s 5th Convocation
Lecture entitled: “Towards a Sustainable Value
System for Economic Growth.”
He said the conclusion of the privatisation of
the power sector would not have been
possible without the initiatives he introduced
and solid foundation he built right from the
time he was Special adviser to the
President on Power and later minister of
power.
He said he was particularly happy that
despite the fact that the people behind his
travails moved to “hack me down” the
Power Sector Reform Roadmap he initiated
became a success story.
Nnaji said, “When I came in as Special
Adviser on Power to the President and
Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on
Power, I said we should take this power
issue as an act of parliament and
implement it to the letter.
“When you hear of the Power Sector
Reform Road Map, it is the plan for the
implementation of a law for the reform of
the power sector and we did not go
outside of that as we pursued it vigorously
and boosted investor confidence.
“I’m pleased that today(Friday) is the
physical handover of all the generation
and distribution companies to private
sector. I’m very proud of this rigorous plan
and discipline and the follow through.
“But this success story came with all
manner of challenges. Some people were
trying to hack me down and it was just
tremendous.
“We had challenges from generator
suppliers; diesel suppliers; people in
government benefiting from having to
award contracts and even the contractors
themselves and all manner of people –
they were all calling for my head.
“But we were able to go to the point of no
return and this is a credit to Nigeria.”
He lamented that Nigeria is one of the
most corrupt countries in the world and
urged the graduating students to join the
movement that will cleanse the nation of
the menace.
He said, “Ask yourself, ‘How can I be a
part of doing something great that
significantly and positively impact my
society?’ ‘How can I balance living well and
doing good deeds?
“Go out there and be a shining example of
what Nigeria and Africa can give to the
world. Become part of the movement that
will drop Nigeria from the list of the most
corrupt nations of the world.”
The Vice-Chancellor of the university, Prof.
Isaac Adeyemi, while delivering his
opening remarks, noted that the Nigerian
economy cannot grow in a situation where
corruption thrives with impunity.
He called for a well articulated and
sustained value system adding that no
individual, organisation, society or nation
grows beyond its value system.
He added, “I’m also persuaded to resonate
the question, ‘What is wrong with Nigeria?
Why can we never do things right or do
the right thing?’ The simple answer lies in
our wrong value system.
“How can the economy grow in a country
where corruption thrives with impunity;
where pubic officers are liabilities rather
than being assets to economic growth and
are never held accountable for their
deeds?”