Reps’ financial sector probe: Committee chair, members quit over N44m bribery allegation •To face probe •As 8-man ad hoc committee takes over

THERE was a new twist in the bribery allegation levelled against the chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Capital Market and other Institutions, Honourable Herman Hembe and members of his committee as they bowed to pressure and stepped aside, on Tuesday. The Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Ms Arunmah Oteh, had claimed that the committee, headed by Hembe, demanded for N44 million bribe from SEC.
To this end, the House has constituted an eight-man ad hoc committee headed by Honourable Ibrahim Tukur El-sudi to continue with the public hearing aimed at identifying the manifest causes of the stock market’s near collapse with a view to finding lasting solution.
This is coming just as the embattled chairman tendered an internal memo from SEC before the House to claim his innocence, in which the SEC management team offered to support the public hearing with the sum of N30,418,800 million as cost of providing live coverage and secretariat needs.
Also, the House mandated its committee on Ethics and Privileges to investigate Honourable Hembe and members of his committee on the said allegation.
The chairman of House Committee on Ethics and Privileges, Honourable Gambo Musa Dan-Musa, who was also part of Hembe’s committee, was relieved of his job, as the Speaker, Honourable Aminu Tambuwal, named the Minority Whip, Honourable Samson Osagie as the interim chairman to investigate the allegation and report back to the House within 14 days.
The deputy chairman of the ethics committee, Honourable Toby Ikechuckwu, was also named as a member of the ad hoc committee and was excused from the ethics committee, for the purposes of the  investigation.
Honourable Hembe, at  Tuesday’s sitting, rose to defend himself in line with House rule, coming under Personal Explanation, saying, “I stand before you this morning to reaffirm my innocence, regarding the allegations made against me by the Director-General SEC. I want it to be on record that I demanded no bribes and took no bribes. Rather, I fought hard and rebuffed  efforts to be inappropriately influenced.
“In my innocence, however, I am aware of the impact of this false allegation on public perception and as a legal practitioner, I am conversant with the principle of law that, in exercise of judicial or quasi-judicial functions, it becomes inappropriate to continue to preside when allegations bordering on pecuniary interest are made against your person.
“I had earlier indicated my willingness to submit to scrutiny by the Economic and Finance Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) I hereby reaffirm that position here and now and add that I am further willing to submit myself to the jurisdiction of the House Committee on Ethics and Privileges.
“Consequently, Mr Speaker, my dear colleagues, I hereby wish to disqualify myself and request the House to withdraw the entire committee from further conducting of the investigative hearing. I remain persuaded, however, that the resolution of this House to investigate the Nigerian capital market remains most honourable and timely and should be carried to its logical conclusion.”
The constitution of the ad hoc committee and naming of Honourable Osagie to try Hembe and members of his committee was sequel to a motion immediately moved after Hembe’s submission by the Chief Whip of the House, Honourable Ishiaka Bawa, who had called for the withdrawal of the committee and the need to constitute an ad hoc committee to take over its  functions.
However, in the internal memo submitted to the House by Honourable Hembe with the heading, “Re: Public hearing on the Nigerian Capital Market,”  the board of the commission approved “a maximum of N30 million as donation by the commission to the House of Representatives Committee on Capital Market and other Institutions to enable it to undertake” the public hearing.
After his ruling, the speaker said, “this morning, we have passed through yet another challenge, which, though not unusual in the democratic process, has subjected this institution to further refining. These challenges are necessary for the strengthening  of our democratic institutions.
 “Let me assure Nigerians, once again, that we are totally committed to the fight against corruption and shall deploy all energies available at our disposal to fight this war. The old saying that ‘when the going gets tough, the tough get going’ will continue to be our guide. I also wish to assure Nigerians that in fighting this war, we recognise that we must, like [Julius] Caesar’s wife, be above board and suspicion.
  “My dear colleagues, we were not elected to lie on a bed of roses. Those who elected us expect that we represent their yearnings and aspirations. Nigerians have chosen presidential democracy as a bulwark against dictatorship, against corruption and waste and, above all, against executive recklessness. This is the duty to which we have been called and we have sworn to promote, protect and preserve the will of the people enshrined in the constitution.
“I wish to urge all Nigerians to continue to repose their confidence in the 7th Assembly, as we are determined to ensure that your trust is not  abused.
“The House of Representatives will continue to be a bulwark against injustice and vanguard for the promotion of good governance and the defence of the interests,  yearnings and aspiration of Nigerians,” he said.