By Aaron Ossai
The House of Representatives Committee on Renewable Energy has invited stakeholders to an investigative public hearing on the $2 billion renewable energy grants and investments meant for the development of the renewable energy sector in Nigeria, which has not made a commensurate impact on the energy security challenges in the nation.
The public hearing which is scheduled to hold on Tuesday, November 5th and Wednesday, November 6th, 2024, follows the mandate given to the Committee by the House on Thursday June 6, 2024, to investigate Ministries, Departments, and Agencies with dealings in investment, procurement, and receipt of grants for the development of the renewable energy sector.
According to a statement by the chairman of the committee, Hon. Victor Ogene on Sunday in Abuja, the probe will cover the period from 2015 to 2024.
Hon. Ogene said that the House was miffed that “Despite government attracting over $2 billion in renewable energy investments in the past decade, as reported by the Rural Electrification Agency in 2023, there has been no noticeable improvement in the sector.
“The House of Reps was alarmed that the dysfunctional electricity generation and supply system persists, contrary to the objectives behind government investments and grants aimed at developing the renewable energy sector, hence the resolution to probe these investments in order to determine the integrity of the procurement and execution processes, he said.
He said the investigation is not to witch-hunt but to discourage opaqueness and promote transparency and objectivity in handling government or public resources.
He thanked the European Union and other donor agencies for their useful submissions, insights and cooperation in sharing information with the committee.
The resolutions of the House were sequel to the adoption of a motion titled “Need to Investigate Investments in Renewable Energy Sector and Foreign Grants received from 2015 till date”, sponsored by the lawmaker representing Oshodi-Isolo II Federal Constituency, Lagos State, Okey-Joe Onuakalusi.
Leading the debate, the lawmaker had said the parliament was aware that poor electricity generation, transmission and distribution constituted a huge threat to the nation’s quest for industrial and technological development.
According to the lawmakers, successive governments since 2015 have made substantial investments and attracted multimillion-dollar foreign grants to the renewable energy subsector of Nigeria’s power industry to create a viable and sustainable alternative energy supply.
They noted that in December 2023, the World Bank approved a $750 million facility to boost renewable energy in Nigeria, with the goal of providing over 17.5 million Nigerians with improved access to electricity through distributed renewable energy solutions.
They also noted that in 2020, the federal government launched a $200 million renewable energy project, tagged ‘Nigeria Electrification Project (NEP),’ aimed at providing off-grid energy to over 500,000 people across 105,000 households in rural communities, funded by the African Development Bank (AfDB).
The invited agencies and stakeholders include, but are not limited to Rural Electrification Agency, Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited, Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI), NASENI Solar Energy Ltd, Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Country Representative European Union, Union Bank Plc (Compliance Department), Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, Federal Ministry of Power, Energy Commission of Nigeria and Federal Ministry of Finance.