The Federal Government has started looking into how budgetary allocations of the
National Assembly were expended both in 2014 and 2015 respectively.
Gathering information on
Friday, It was Observed that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission had demanded
details of the budgets totalling N300bn from the National Assembly
clerk, Sani Omolori.
Besides, he was requested to produce details of the contracts awarded by the assembly.
It was learnt that some principal
officers of the seventh and the current eighth National Assembly would
be invited in the coming months for interrogation.
Investigations showed that although the
commission had received a petition from a former Chairman of the House
of Representatives Committee on Appropriation, Mr. Abdulmumin Jibrin, on
the alleged padding of the 2016 budget, it is extending its
investigations to 2014 and 2015 fiscal years.
Jibrin, in his petition, had alleged
that the Speaker of the House, Mr. Yakubu Dogara and three other
principal officers padded the 2016 budget.
It was learnt that for the seventh
National Assembly, principal officers including the then Senate
President, Senator David Mark, and his Deputy, Ike Ekweremadu, would be
invited by the commission.
For the eight National Assembly, besides
Dogara, the current Senate President, Dr.Bukola Saraki; Ekweremadu and
the Deputy Speaker, Sulaiman Lasun, will also be quizzed.
The official stated, “You know the
National Assembly has never made its budget public. Besides Jibrin’s
petitions, there are others that will make investigations into the 2014
and 2015 budgets inevitable.”
For example, a group, the
Anti-Corruption Unit of the National Youth Council of Nigeria, in a
petition to the EFCC, alleged that N418m contracts were awarded in 2014
to firms linked to Jibrin.
The contracts included the supply of beans and millets to Kano State awarded to Eleku Construction Limited.
When contacted, the EFCC spokesman,
Wilson Uwujaren, confirmed that the commission had requested for 2014
and 2015 budgets from the National Assembly.
Attempts to get Jibrin’s reactions did
not succeed on Friday as he could not be reached through his telephone.
He also did not reply to a text message our correspondent sent to his
mobile phone.
Dogara, on his part, had recently said
that the police and the EFCC could not investigate the House on the
alleged padding of the 2016 budget.
The Chief Press Secretary to the Senate President, Sanni Odogu, simply said, “Saraki is a law-abiding citizen.”
He referred one of our correspondents to the Special Adviser to the Senate President (Media and Publicity), Yusuf Olaniyonu.
Olaniyonu, when contacted on the phone, said he was at a function and requested that a text message be sent to make the enquiry.
In his reply to the text message sent to
him, Olaniyonu said, “No such thing. The Senate is on recess. We do not
have any inkling about any such probe or invitation. In any case,
remember that he became Senate President on June 9, 2015. So, if they
are talking of 2014 and 2015, I don’t think that (the probe) will
concern him.”
But another senior aide to Saraki, who
spoke on the condition of anonymity, noted that even when the Senate
President was charged to two different courts, he had been law-abiding.
“When they dragged him to the Code of
Conduct Tribunal, he has been attending the proceedings. When they
dragged him to a Federal High Court (over alleged forgery of Senate
Standing Rules along with some principal officers of the Senate), he has
been going. If there is anything else, let us wait till that time
comes,” the source said.
Also, the Special Adviser to the Deputy
Senate President on Media, Uche Anichukwu, said, “We are not aware of
any invitation or the intention to invite Senator Ekweremadu.”
Similarly, Mark’s media aide, Paul Mumeh, said he could not react to speculations.
“We can only react to what I know of.
Have you seen the letter of invitation written by the EFCC? Who signed
it? Who was it sent through? We can only react to facts,” he said.
However, the Deputy Chairman, Senate
Committee on Foreign Affairs, Senator Shehu Sani, told one of our
correspondents that the probe is the same as meddling in the affairs of
the legislature by the executive.
He noted that the security and
anti-graft agencies are arms of the executive. He asked why the agencies
were not paying attention to the executive and the judiciary.
Sani said, “The anti-corruption agencies
are showing more interest in allegations against members of the
National Assembly than against members of the executive and the
judiciary. And the discriminatory responses of the anti-corruption
agencies are an ill wind that will blow no one any good. It simply
discredits the agencies as well as raise suspicions on their activities.
“The National Assembly is not immune to
the law that is applicable to anybody in this country but the
anti-corruption agencies must respect the independence of the
legislature and seek an informed opinion whenever they are delving into
issues that concern the legislature because they are still seen as part
of the executive. They must know that any of their actions, naturally,
will be interpreted as a calculated attempt to undermine the activities
of the National Assembly.
The lawmaker, who is representing
Kaduna-Central at the Senate, however, added that no legislature should
“in any way take advantage of its esteemed position and the privileges
of its esteemed position to commit crime with the expectation of
immunity or impunity.”
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