Following an investigative hearing into the $2 billion renewable energy subsidies and investments in Nigeria, the House of Representatives Committee on Renewable Energy has invited stakeholders.

The investment, according to the committee, did not have a proportionate impact on the nation’s energy security challenges.

President Bola Tinubu said in July 2024 at the Africa Energy and Natural Resources Investment Summit in Nigeria that the nation has attracted over $2 billion in investments in the sector in the past decade.

A statement issued on Sunday by the chairman of the House committee, Victor Ogene, in Abuja, said the probe would cover the period 2015-2024.

The investigative hearing follows the mandate given to the committee on June 6, 2024 to investigate ministries, departments and agencies involved in investment, procurement and the receipt of grants for the development of the renewable energy sector.

The hearing is scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday, November 5 and 6, 2024.

The lawmaker said that despite the government attracting more than $2 billion in renewable energy investment over the past decade, as reported by the Rural Electrification Agency in 2023, there has been no visible improvement in the sector.

He explained: “The House of Representatives was alarmed that the dysfunctional system of electricity generation and supply persists, contrary to the objectives behind government investment and grants aimed at developing the renewable energy sector.

“Hence the resolution to probe these investments to determine the integrity of the procurement and execution processes.”

According to him, the probe is not a witch hunt but an exercise to discourage dubious transactions and promote transparency and objectivity in the management of government or public resources.

He explained that the resolution of the House followed the adoption of a motion titled “The need to investigate investments in the renewable energy sector and foreign grants received from 2015 to date”, sponsored by the Member of Parliament representing Oshodi-Isolo II Federal Constituency, Lagos State, Mr. Okey-Joe Onuakalusi.

The MP explained that parliament was aware that poor generation, transmission and distribution of electricity posed a significant threat to the nation’s industrial and technological development goals.

The statement noted that successive governments since 2015 have made substantial investments and attracted multi-million dollar foreign grants to Nigeria’s renewable energy sub-sector to create a viable and sustainable alternative energy supply.

The statement noted that in December 2023, the World Bank approved a $750 million facility to boost renewable energy in Nigeria with the aim of providing over 17.5 million Nigerians with improved access to electricity through distributed solutions by renewable energy.

The statement also noted that in 2020, the Federal Government launched a $200 million renewable energy project, the “Nigeria Electrification Project” aimed at providing off-grid power to over 500,000 people in 105,000 households from rural communities, financed by the African Development Bank. .

According to the statement, agencies invited to the public hearing include the Rural Electrification Agency, Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority, National Engineering Science and Infrastructure Agency and the Ministry of Petroleum Resources.

Also invited, the statement explained, are the country representatives of the European Union, Union Bank Plc (Compliance Department), the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, the Federal Ministry of Power, the Nigerian Energy Commission and the Federal Ministry of Finance.

Other invited entities include Niger Delta Power Holding Company, Federal Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy, Federal Ministry of Environment and Ecological Management, Federal Ministry of Petroleum (Gas Resources), Niger Delta Development Commission, United States Agency for International Development, Federal Ministry. of Budget and Economic Planning, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Accountant General of the Federation and Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Associations, among others.