President Goodluck Jonathan has said
that the provision of electricity has been the key achievement of his
government since coming to power.
Fielding questions from CNN’s
Christine Amanpour last night, Jonathan debunked criticisms that at least 60
percent of Nigerians lack electricity for their day-to-day activities.
“I would have loved that you asked an
ordinary Nigerian on the streets of Lagos, Abuja and any other city this
question about power,” he told Ms Amanpour, who had reminded him about a
promise he made during her first interview with him three years ago that the
main issues he would focus on as president of Nigeria were corruption and
electicity.
Last night he said: “That is one area
that Nigerians are quite pleased with the government – that our commitment to
improve power is working. So, if you’re saying something different I am really
surprised. That is one area – one area – that even civil society members agree
that government has kept faith with its promise.”
The president, however, admitted: “We
have not got to where we should be” on the provision of electricity.
“You know that the installation of
power infrastructure is one investment in which you must complete the chain
before the bulb can light: you generate, you must transmit, you must
distribute,” he said. “And even if you have the money and the political will to
do so, you cannot do it overnight. And we’re working very hard, and I promise
you that before the end of this year power will be reasonably stable in
Nigeria.
“This is something that has been a
problem for years, for years; so you cannot correct it overnight. It takes time
even if you have the money.”
On the issue of corruption, the CNN
interviewer told the president that six months ago the then finance minister
said 400,000 barrels of Nigeria’s crude oil were being stolen on a daily basis,
amounting to worth $7 billion yearly.
She wanted to know his views on this.
Jonathan said crude oil theft is made
possible with the connivance of some countries. He argued that only concerted
efforts by the international community could solve the problem.
He said: “In fact, when you talk
about crude oil stealing, yes, I agree with you. Frankly speaking, we want
international community to support Nigeria because this stolen crude is being
bought by refineries abroad, and they know the crude oil was stolen.
“The world must condemn what is
wrong. The stolen crude is refined abroad, it is not refined in Nigeria.”
He also denied that the country’s
security forces are committing extrajudicial killings in their battle against
Boko Haram militants.
“That is not correct. That is not
correct. And I have said it severally, those are insinuations by some interest
groups,” he said.
Told that one of those interest
groups, the United States Assistant Secretary of State, has said that the
method of the crackdown on Boko Haram is inflaming the population and worsening
the situation, Jonathan said: “No, no, no. People get wrong information from
the State Department of the United States; the State Department of the United
States… they have the means of knowing the truth. They should try and filter
the truth. They should not just listen to some people who have access to them.
But they have the means of knowing the truth.”
Jonathan also stated that there has
been a lot of improvement since the last time he spoke to CNN, pointing out that
the election system has been cleaned up.
Source: Blueprint
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