UN, EU lament Nnaji’s exit •N/East, S/East divided over appointment of power minister •Gains in power sector irreversible -FG .

Written by Leon Usigbe, Paschal Okeke and Tunde Dodondawa.

Former Minister of Power, Prof. Barth Nnaji

THE international community, especially development partners, have sought assurance from the Federal Government that the legacies of the former Minister of Power, Professor Barth Nnaji, would be sustained.
The partners had stormed the Ministry of Power at the weekend, to seek assurance that the progress made in the power sector during the tenure of the former minister were pursued diligently to an impressive end.
Country Representative of the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), Dr Patrick Kormawa, who led others to the ministry, said the organisation was working in concert with other agencies for rural electrification of the country, especially in renewable energy sector.
The European Union (EU) Head of Cooperation, Mr P. Phillipe, said when the EU headquarters got the news, it was alarmed and expressed concern over the continuity of the reforms in the sector.
The partners also sought to know the stage of the privatisation process and whether Nigeria was still committed to the time lines.
The World Bank representative, Erik Feinstiom, said he was at the last power summit in Asaba, Delta State, which was presided over by Nnaji.
The Minister of State for Power, Mr Darius Ishaku, in his reaction, said everybody in Nigeria was as alarmed as the international partners at the exit of the former minister.
However, the Federal Government, on Sunday, reaffirmed that in spite of the resignation of Professor Nnaji, the progress already made in the sector would be consolidated.
It also assured Nigerians that President Goodl-uck Jonathan was committed to ensure investors’ confidence and credibility in the power sector were protected.
A statement issued by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Dr Doyin Okupe, in Abuja, noted that necessary structures and institutions to drive them had already been firmly established.
It said President Jona-than expected that before the end of December, with the progress being made in the area of gas supply to the National Integrated Power Project (NIPP), the present improvement in the electricity supply for domestic and industrial use would not only be sustained, but would be also improved.
The statement pointed out that the president had set a target for the actualisation of uninterrupted power supply to drive economic development.
Meanwhile, following the resignation of Professor Nnaji, North-East politicians and their counterparts from the South-East have been divided over who becomes the next power minister.
Leading South-East politicians, comprising Third Republic senator, Ebenezer Ikeyina; former Anambra State governor, Dr Chukwuemeka Ezeife; leader of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), Chief Ralph Uwazuruike; First Republic Minister of Aviation, Chief Mbuzulike Amaechi; insurance guru and former president-general of Igbo socio-cultural organi-sation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Professor Joe Irukwu and the president’s Special Adviser on Inter-Party Affairs, Senator Ben Obi, were reported to be clamouring for the appointment of another Igbo man as power minister.
But a group of northern elite, Junkun of Taraba, had kicked against the plan of the president to replace the former minister with another Igbo man.
The group expressed its displeasure with the president during a news conference at the weekend, saying that the appointment of another Igbo man for the position was against true federalism..
The official spokesman of Jukun kingdom, Chief Ibrahim Sangari, noted that “at no time in the history of this country have the Jukuns been so unfairly treated as under this present administration,” adding that we have the mandate of the Aku Uka of Wukari, Dr Shekarau Angyu Masa Ibi, to express our sadness at the turn of events.”