- Uproar as Senator Shehu Sani accuses presidency of hypocrisy, lies
- Says Buhari’s letter clearing SGF is funeral for anti-graft war
The decision of the Senate was made
known by its spokesman, Senator Sabi Abdullahi during a press briefing,
after President Muhammadu Buhari’s letters requesting for the screening
and confirmation of Magu and exonerating Lawal were read out by Senate
President Bukola Saraki in the chamber.
Having read out both letters from
Buhari, the Senate said it would screen Magu. The Senate spokesman,
however, regretted that the president’s letter failed to address the
allegations raised against Magu by Department of State Services (DSS),
which led to his rejection by the Senate late last year.
Abdullahi also said notwithstanding the
president’s position on Lawal, the Senate stood by its resolution, which
indicted him of corruption.
But before the press briefing by the
Senate, there was an uproar in the upper legislative chamber tuesday
following the accusation made by the Chairman of the Senate Ad-hoc
Committee on the Mounting Humanitarian Crisis in North-east, Senator
Shehu Sani, that the presidency was full of lies and hypocrisy.
Sani was miffed by the content of
Buhari’s letter read by Saraki, in which the president accused the
committee chaired by Sani of denying the SGF of fair hearing by failing
to invite him to defend himself during the investigation on the
mismanagement of funds allocated to the North-eastern section of the
country as a result of the Boko Haram insurgency.
The president, in his letter, also
concluded that the ad hoc committee’s report was an interim one,
obviously forgetting that the presidency had indicted and ordered the
arrest and arraignment of the former National Security Adviser, Col.
Sambo Dasuki in 2015, on the basis of an interim report submitted to it
by a presidential committee set up to investigate the utilisation of
funds for the procurement of arms by past administrations.
Sani described the letter as the funeral
of Buhari’s anti-corruption war, pointing out that when the president
wants to fight corruption outside the presidency, he uses a disinfectant
but when it is within the presidency, he uses deodorant.
But in a bid to douse what he deemed to
be strong and inflammatory remarks, Saraki attempted to stop Sani from
having his say on the floor on the upper legislative chamber.
Saraki’s attempt to gag the senator,
however, drew the ire of his colleagues who appeared to be enjoying the
barbs thrown by Sani, as they shouted thunderously until proceedings
were interrupted for some minutes, forcing Saraki to allow Sani to
continue.
Buhari’s letters had cleared the acting
Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim
Magu, and Lawal of corruption allegations.
The Senate had on December 14, 2016,
accused Lawal of awarding a multi-million naira grass cutting contract
in the North-east to his company and therefore called for his sack and
prosecution.
The parliament also rejected Magu as the substantive chairman of EFCC on December 15, 2016, citing a damning security report.
However, Buhari had asked the Attorney
General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, to investigate the
allegations and revert to him with a report on his findings.
It was on this basis that Buhari cleared
the SGF and the acting EFCC chairman of the corruption allegations and
resubmitted Magu’s name to the Senate for screening and confirmation.
But in his reaction, Sani said contrary
to the claim of lack of fair hearing, a letter was sent to the SGF and
was received and acknowledged by his office.
He displayed the acknowledgment letter
by the SGF’s office as well as a full page advert published in the Daily
Trust edition of December 2, 2016, where he said the SGF was listed
among those invited to the investigative hearing.
He further accused the presidency of cultivating the habit of telling lies to cover up its shortcomings.
“It is shocking to me that such a letter can come from the presidency with such misinformation and outright distortions.
“They lied by saying that the committee
did not invite the SGF. The committee invited the SGF and the letter was
acknowledged by the Permanent Secretary in the Office of the SGF, Mr.
Aminu – spelling not sure?
“To make sure that we buttressed our
point, we published a paid advert in three or four national dailies.
This one was published on December 2, 2016, and the SGF was clearly
mentioned as one of those that were expected to come and appear before
the National Assembly.
“If they had the intention of simply
reaching a pre-determined conclusion by covering up on the issues raised
by the committee, that is one thing.
“Secondly, issues were raised that only
three members of the committee signed that interim report. That was a
second lie coming from the presidency. I have a copy of the interim
report which was initially signed by seven members of the nine members
of that committee and I am going to submit it to the Clerk of the
Senate.
“Even if it was nine members, and then three people signed, we still had a quorum, but here I have seven persons.
“I will say also that I listened to the list of the names that were read and they omitted the chairman, which is myself.
“I know that I am not very big in frame,
but I believe my name shouldn’t have been omitted. This shows clearly
how the SGF and his minions in the presidency misinformed the president
to sign this letter.
“Thirdly, I will state this clearly:
This letter is a funeral service for the anti-corruption fight. Mr.
President, when it comes to fighting corruption in the National
Assembly, the judiciary and in the larger Nigeria society, the president
uses insecticide, but when it comes to fighting corruption within the
presidency, they use deodorant.
“I stand by the report of that committee
and it was very clear to us. If we allow this committee’s report to be
shredded into pieces, then l think it would be in order for us to open
all the 138 prisons in this country for all the convicts and awaiting
trial inmates to go scot free.
“As far as l am concerned, on behalf of
myself and the committee, what we did was a thorough job. We invited all
the companies concerned. We invited the SGF and he sent us the
secretary of the Presidential Initiative on the North-east.
“The secretary testified under oath that
he was competent enough to answer our questions. He came with tons and
tons of documents which we went through and then we came out with our
report.
“It is unfortunate that we have a
political atmosphere where you have a saintly and angelic presidency and
a devilish and evil society.
“We must in every respect fight
corruption within the kitchen as we do in the verandah. If we don’t do
that, then we are being hypocritical. This letter does not in any way
reflect the spirit which we espoused as a people fighting to cleanse and
fumigate this country of corruption,” Sani submitted.
In his letter, Buhari in his reaction to
the Senate’s rejection of Magu as substantive EFCC chairman on December
15, 2016, said he had studied the resolution of the Senate and having
listened to Magu’s response to the security report indicting him, he was
satisfied with his response. He therefore implored the Senate to clear
him.
“I have taken due note of the contents
of the aforesaid resolution as it concerns the nominee, particularly the
conclusion of the Distinguished Senate not to confirm the nomination of
Mr. Magu due to a security report on the nominee issued by the
Department of State Services (DSS) and addressed to the Senate via a
letter dated 3rd October 2016.
“Upon receipt of this said resolution, I
took administrative steps within the executive arm of government to
ensure the speedy clarification of issues relied upon by the Senate in
arriving at its decision.
“These steps included a request for the
response of the nominee to the allegations contained in the report out
of the desire to ensure that the credibility of our anti-corruption
campaign is not compromised or called to question.
“As the Distinguished Senate, you will
recall the prosecution of the anti-corruption war in all aspects of our
polity is a programme to which my administration has committed itself
since our inauguration on May 29th, 2015.
“In undertaking this campaign, we have
been guided by the need for urgency, consolidation and improvement of
our present statutory framework for addressing the scourge of corruption
in our country as well as taking the benefits of institutional memory
and present capacity in taking the campaign forward.
“It is in the above context you will
agree with me that there’s a need to maintain the current momentum and
capacity of the EFCC since May 29th, 2015. It is in the above context
that I therefore request to crave your indulgence of this Distinguished
Senate to favourably accept my re-nomination of Ibrahim Magu Mustapha
for the position of the EFCC, having received adequate clarification
considering the matter relied upon by the Senate in arriving at its
decision.
“Mr. President of the Senate, I make
this request for a favourable reconsideration by this distinguished
chamber against the background of the critical role of the Senate in
driving the anti-corruption campaign of the present administration
through a proactive legislative agenda and adequate appropriation
support for the important work of the agency such as the EFCC.
“I use this opportunity to reassure the
distinguished senators of my determination to pursue a synergy between
the executive and the legislative arms in our common mission to bequeath
a more prosperous and value-driven country to the generation after us,”
Buhari said.
On the SGF, he said he had also studied
the Senate resolution on the report of the ad-hoc committee which
indicted Lawal, describing it as hasty because it was an interim report.
According to him, the Senate should have waited for the final report of the committee before drawing its conclusions.
Buhari also said the report could not
stand the test of time because it was only signed by three of the nine
members of the committee which he said implied the support of a minority
group in the committee for the report.
Buhari therefore told the Senate that in view of the flaws in the report, he could not honour their request for Lawal’s sack.
“Following a receipt of your letter, I
setup a review team to consider the recommendations from the Senate
committee. I have also conducted further investigations based on Engr.
Lawal’s response to the allegations and issues raised in the Senate’s
resolution.
“I have come to the following conclusion
that I believe will guide the Senate in the proper review of its
interim report and eventual resolution.
“The report forwarded to the presidency
by the Senate which informed the decision that Engr. Babachir Lawal
should resign and be prosecuted by the relevant authority was an interim
report as against a final report which ought to have been presented to
the Senate in the plenary for adoption as a binding and final report
before submission to the presidency, given the weight of allegations
made in the report.
“The Senate committee set up to
investigate the mounting humanitarian crisis in the North-east comprised
of nine members, namely: Senator Oluremi Tinubu, Senator Mohammed
Hassan, Senator Solomon Adeola, Senator Ben Murray Bruce, Senator Tayo
Alasoadura, Senator Theodore Orji, Senator Yahaya A. Abdullahi, Senator
Mallam Aliu Wakili and Senator Issac M. Alfa.
“The review of the interim report showed
that the interim report was only signed by only three out of the nine
members, namely, Senator Solomon Adeola, Senator Yahaya Abdullahi and
Senator Isaac M. Alfa
“The signing of the interim report by
three out of nine members of the committee makes it a minority report of
the Senate committee and not a committee report being an interim
report, thus presenting a challenge for the presidency to determine the
weight to attach to the report as currently presented.
“I have also observed that the Senate
ad-hoc interim committee report and the votes and proceedings of the
Senate have not in its own right established that Engr. Babachir Lawal
was ever given an opportunity to appear before the committee and defend
himself.
“It is also on record that the company
linked to him, Rholavision Engineering Limited, was also not invited at
anytime before the committee to defend itself against the allegations
which eventually formed the fulcrum of the Senate’s case against the
company.
“You are invited to note that the
non-application of the principle of fair hearing by the Senate ad-hoc
committee is a clear contravention of Section 36(1) of the 1999
Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended, and against
all principles of the rule of law as initiated in the Nigerian legal
system, as well as the roles of the National Assembly committees on
handling of public petitions.
“Consequently, I am of the view that
baring other consideration that may arise as a result of subsequent
investigation of Engr. Lawal by the interim ad-hoc committee, the
current report as presented to the presidency in its own right, does not
meet the principles of fair hearing and compliance with the Senate’s
rules for conduct of investigations in matters relating to abuse of
office by public officers.
“In replying to the foregoing, I am not
able to approve the recommendation to remove and prosecute Engr. Lawal
on the basis of the Senate ad-hoc committee report dated 15th December,
2016,” Buhari concluded.
0 comments:
Post a Comment