Ex-Power Minister Recommits To Supporting Sector’s Fledgling Transformation

Former Power minister, Bart Nnaji, has expressed his support for the total transformation of Nigeria’s energy sector and said he has no intention of joining politics.

Nnaji said he is proud that Aba Power now supplies electricity to the Etche local government area in Rivers State, and would continue to provide Nigerians with affordable power wherever possible.

In 2013, his Geometric Power formed a special purpose vehicle (SPV) with the five Southeast state governments and leading Southeast entrepreneurs, known as the Eastern Electric Company, to bid for the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company during the privatisation of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) assets.

Although that effort was scuttled, Professor Nnaji has continued to partner with like-minded investors to develop and build power projects in Nigeria.

This comes after a news publication reported that he has joined a political party.

Nnaji said he had been receiving inquiries in the last couple of hours from people in different parts of the globe about his so-called involvement in Nigerian partisan politics, following a baseless claim in an online media report that he had registered with a political party online.

“Prof. Nnaji does not belong to any political party, let alone registering for anyone online. He has no plans of registering with any political party, having served Nigeria at the federal level twice as Minister of Science and Technology and later as Minister of Power and under different administrations,” senior manager, Brand Media Communications, Aba Power, Edise Ekong, said in a statement.

Ekong, in the statement, said, ‘Nnaji is surprised that a politician claimed in the online report that the Federal Government has been coercing him to work with the five Southeastern state governments to provide electricity to them as his Geometric Power has been doing to the nine local government areas in the Aba Ring-fenced Area of Abia State.

“There is no grain of truth in this allegation, and Professor Nnaji unequivocally denies the whole story about his affiliation with any political party in Nigeria. Nnaji’s interest in helping different parts of the country, including his geopolitical zone, the Southeast, to access constant, quality, and affordable electricity is well established. Nnaji does not require the Federal Government to coerce him to work for the development of basic infrastructure in the Southeast or any other geopolitical zone, nor does he require registration with any political party whatsoever to achieve that vision.”

He said, “It is inappropriate for any medium, whether traditional or online, to publish reports of so-called Prof Nnaji’s involvement in partisan politics without endeavouring to speak to him or any of his associates, despite his well-known open-door policy. This door remains open to journalists who want to publish fair, accurate, and balanced reports.”