Alleging under the table insider abuses and the unbeneficial nature of the contract shrouded in secrecy entered into for a second time recently between the Federal Government of Nigeria and the self acclaimed Canadian electricity power firm MANITOBA operating under the Nigerian registered franchise of MANITOBA hydro international Nigeria Limited (MHINL) for a management contract for the nation's electricity power sector, a call has gone to President Muhammadu Buhari to investigate the deal with a view to getting the best legally acceptable terms for Nigeria.

Besides, the Canadian electricity power firm MANITOBA has been accused by a Pro-democracy civil society group, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA ) of blackmailing Nigeria through a carefully scripted cocktails of cooked up claims of breach of agreement only few hours after the office of the Vice President reportedly caved into political pressure which resulted in the recent renewal by the Nigerian Government of another term for the management contract between MANITOBA and the Transmission Company of Nigeria.

HURIWA said that the recent cover story in a well respected national newspaper in which MANITOBA was quoted as accusing the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) of operating another bank account in which proceeds of revenues generated are funneled into in breach of an extant agreement was in the considered view of HURIWA a redherring and a smokescreen meant to tie the wool of confusion around the eyes of President Muhammadu Buhari so he can’t order fir a transparent investigations of some illegal provisions such as dollarisation of the contract amongst others which are in breach of Nigeria’s municipal banking laws.

In a statement to the Media HURIWA through the National Coordinator Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko and the National Media affairs Director Miss Zainab Yusuf, said since the Nigerian franchise of Manitoba known as Manitoba Hydro international Nigeria Limited (MHINL ) is a locally registered firm in Nigeria it amounted to fraud and a monumental illegality for the Nigerian government to continue to pay in into the account of this management firm in USD dollar denominated payments since it is in breach of our domestic law since Nigeria's official national currency is naira and kobo.

HURIWA also faulted the aspect of the agreement which reportedly exempted this management firm from paying taxation to the government and people of Nigeria just as the rights group said there is so far no evidential or scientific proofs to show that this management firm signed on to partner with Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) to manage Nigeria’s electricity power sector has been able to mobilise independent funding resources nor manpower locally to improve the quality of electricity power supply to consumers in Nigeria.

HURIWA said the failure and/or refusal of MANITOBA to employ the services of local qualified human resources to run the electricity power sector since signing on, amounted to a breach of the provisions of the extant Local Content Act of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

•Photo shows Onwubiko.

Update news