JUST IN: Atiku accuses Tinubu of lying to Nigerians over power sector debt payments

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has accused President Bola Tinubu’s administration of misleading Nigerians over claims that it had settled debts owed to Power Generation Companies (GenCos).

In a statement issued on Wednesday by Phrank Shaibu, his media aide, Atiku said recent comments by the Association of Power Generation Companies (APGC) exposed what he described as the Federal Government’s “carefully manufactured narrative” on power sector debt payments.

The former vice-president said the disclosure by Joy Ogaji, executive secretary of the APGC, that the much-publicised N501 billion bond had not been fully disbursed contradicted repeated government claims that the intervention had settled outstanding obligations.

Atiku challenged the Federal Government to publish the names of the generation companies paid from the bond proceeds, the amounts received by each beneficiary, the dates of payment, and the outstanding balances.

He said: “The question is no longer whether the government is borrowing. The question is why Nigerians are repeatedly being asked to applaud fresh borrowing to solve a problem that government insists it solved only yesterday.”

The former presidential candidate questioned why the government was considering another intervention if previous debt settlement programmes had been successful.

“If the earlier interventions worked, why is another intervention necessary? If the debts were substantially cleared, why are the creditors saying otherwise?” he asked.

Atiku also called on the National Assembly and the Auditor-General of the Federation to conduct a comprehensive public audit of all power sector intervention funds raised under the Tinubu administration.

He said Nigerians deserved to know “precisely how much has been borrowed, how much has been disbursed, who received the money, and why the debts continue to rise despite repeated claims of settlement”.

“The Tinubu administration must stop moving the goalposts. It cannot continue to ask Nigerians to celebrate fresh debt while refusing to provide a transparent account of previous interventions,” he concluded.