FLASHBACK: How Fashola Denied The Six-Month Power Solution Allegation Raised by Jonathan

On Thursday, former President Goodluck Jonathan fired some shots into the camp of the political party which prevented him from extending his stay at the presidential villa in Abuja.

Jonathan also singled out Babatunde Fashola, minister of power works and housing, for allegedly saying a serious government will fix power in six months.

Taunting Fashola, Jonathan wondered why the power sector was still grappling with challenges two years after the former Lagos governor became a minister.

The former number one citizen spoke while receiving Tunde Adeniran, a chairmanship aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at his Abuja office.

“In the power sector, we did well to revive it. A state governor attacked our government, saying that any serious government should be able to fix the power challenge within six months,” Jonathan had said.

“Today, APC has been in power for how many years now? Fortunately, the then governor is in the APC government as a minister.”

But as far back as 2016, Fashola had denied making the controversial statement, challenging anyone with proof to present it.

“I have heard that I said that electricity problem will be solved in six months. I have never made the statement,” he had told the Nigerian Television (NTA) shortly before the first anniversary of the Buhari administration.

“Anybody who has a video of where I said this should please make it public. The point I made was when I was handing over the Lekki IPP because we had about 10 megawatts of power there.”

When he featured on an Arise TV programme in September, the issue was also addressed.

“I remember where I made that statement, I did not say the words they said I said. I was responding to residents who, after we commissioned a power plant in Lekki to serve the waterworks and street lights in Lekki and Victoria Island, asked me when they can get powers in their homes.

“And my answer to them was that we would be encroaching the jurisdiction of the Disco without permit from NERC and that if NERC gave us the permission to provide power for them, the plant was there, connecting to them was a matter of six months.”