Former Vice President Namadi Sambo has strongly denied allegations of political meddling in Nigeria’s 2013 power sector privatisation process, dismissing claims made by a former minister as baseless and misleading.
The rebuttal comes amid renewed scrutiny of the controversial electricity sector reforms undertaken during the Jonathan administration.
Sambo clarified that the privatisation exercise followed due process and international best practices, with decisions made by technical experts rather than political officeholders.
He emphasised that the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) and the National Council on Privatisation independently managed the entire process, including bid evaluations and final selection of core investors for the power generation and distribution companies.
The former Vice President expressed disappointment at attempts to rewrite history, noting that the privatisation was conducted transparently with oversight from the National Assembly and other stakeholders.
He challenged critics to provide concrete evidence of any improper political influence during the transaction process rather than making unsubstantiated allegations years later.
Industry analysts recall that the 2013 power sector privatisation aimed to improve the electricity supply by transferring assets to private investors.
However, persistent challenges in the sector have led some stakeholders to question the effectiveness of the reforms. Sambo maintained that subsequent operational issues stemmed from post-privatisation challenges rather than the transaction process itself.
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cc: Daily Post Ng
