LEGISLATIVE investigative panels which were supposed to unearth the facts behind the failures of public office holders, have become meaningless in Nigeria.
And the reason for this is not far fetched;midway or at the end of the exercise, allegations of graft are always levelled against the investigating lawmakers. What does this portend for the nation’s quest for good governance? CHARLES KUMOLU reports.
The Yar’Adua alarm
THE year was 2007, while the setting was the Aso Rock Presidential Villa in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. And the event of the day, was a courtesy visit by World Bank Vice President for Africa, Dr. Oby Ezekwesili. On hand to host the visiting World Bank Chief, was President Umar Musa Yar’Adua.
THE year was 2007, while the setting was the Aso Rock Presidential Villa in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. And the event of the day, was a courtesy visit by World Bank Vice President for Africa, Dr. Oby Ezekwesili. On hand to host the visiting World Bank Chief, was President Umar Musa Yar’Adua.
For a president, who was eager to get foreign support on the actualisation of his 7-point agenda, the visit was an avenue for Yar’dua to explain Nigeria’s pressing need to Ezekwesili.
Consequently, he revealed that $10 bn (N 1.2 tn) invested in the power sector between 2000 to 2007 had not translated into power generation, transmission and distribution.
Farouk, Elumelu and Hembe
With this revelation, the House of Representatives on January 31 during a plenary session, mandated its committee on Power and Steel to embark on a thorough investigation and conduct a public hearing on how the huge sums of money was expended.
This was done after the Minority Leader Mohammed Ali Ndume and 103 other members brought a motion urging the House of Representatives to review the Power Reform Programme Performance.
This, however, set the ball rolling for what has come to be known today as the Elumelu Power Sector Probe.
The committee went into action and opened investigation into the matter with a public hearing in March 2008.
For a lot of people, the idea was not misplaced, given that the nation had been in total darkness as a result of the inability of the Federal Government to provide stable electricity.
At the end of its investigations, which included fact-finding tours across various parts of the country, the committee submitted its report.
The Elumelu 100m bribe
And it consequently recommended the prosecution of several firms and individuals found wanting in the alleged shady contracts.
But hardly had the committee concluded its job that allegations of financial impropriety emerged against its members.
In fact, this happened a few days to the day the report was to be presented, as there were claims that some members of the panel collected N100m bribe from a contractor in Port Harcourt.
From this point on, VanguardFeatures,VF, can authoritatively say, that the fate of the report which was eventually submitted before the House, became uncertain, as attention was shifted to the allegations against members of the Elumelu panel.
Following the allegations, which diminished public interest about the probe, the Ethics Committee which was dissolved along with 68 other standing committees of the House was reconstituted to look into the issue.
The nation was dejected with the news of the claims against the lawmakers, Elumelu‘s team, because they became the people being investigated for alleged gratification.
In fact, the bribery claims, ultimately watered down the findings of the committee, hence the recommendations of the panel seems to have been confined to the dust bin of history.
The Otteh/Hembe drama
While the nation was still reeling over and yet to recover from the shock of the Elumelu saga, downplayed the power sector probe, a similar development emerged.
Like the others before it, this one also bothered on allegations of graft against the House Committee Chairman on Capital Market, Mr. Herman Hembe, who was saddled with the responsibility of investigating the Capital Market collapse.
The capital market probe, which attracted public enthusiasm, was initiated to look into the collapse of the stock market.
However, VF findings indicated that this general sympathy for the exercise was abruptly subdued, by allegations by the Head of the Security and Exchange Commission,SEC, Arunmah Otteh against Hembe.
She had accused Hembe of demanding N39m from SEC and another N5m cash request to support the investigation into the collapse of the Nigerian Capital Market, totalling N44m.
She also claimed that Hembe and the committee’s Deputy Chairman, Mr. Chris Azubogu, took first class tickets and estacode from SEC to attend a capital market conference in the Dominican Republic but did not use the money as planned.
Oteh added that the two politicians did not return the estacode to SEC.
She further alleged that her refusal to part with the said sums appeared to have angered members of the panel and resulted in their seeming bias against her when she appeared before the panel.
The emergence of the claims and counter claims, however, frustrated the probe, as attention was diverted to the Hembe/Otteh allegations. And it consequently, signalled the death of the capital market probe, as not a few were eager to know what the truth in the Otteh/Hembe saga was.
In its usual style the House referred the matter to its Ethics and Privileges Committee. At the moment, VF can reveal that many are of the opinion that the committee might sweep the matter under the carpet.
Farouk/Otedola movie
As ‘hot’ as the Hembe/Otteh saga was then,it however relegated the Capital Market probe to the background ,inspite of the fact that it was still fresh on many minds. But, the nation was yet confronted with a similar kind of graft allegations against lawmakers.
The scandal revolved around one man – Lawan, who ironically had all this while donned the cap of integrity. Lawan it would be remembered was the chairman of the Integrity Group, a group of legislators that famously claimed to be purists during the Patricia Etteh affair.
Lawan, it is alleged, had in his capacity as the Chairman of the House of Representatives ad-hoc committee on fuel subsidy, demanded and received $620, 000, as part payment of a $3million bribe to exonerate Femi Otedola and his companies from indictment in the investigations into the subsidy scam perpetrated by oil importers.
Otedola, claimed that Lawan, and the Secretary of the committee, Mr. Boniface Emenalo, collected $620,000 from him in a sting operation masterminded by the security agencies. “When he (Lawan) demanded the bribe, I called the agencies. That is because I had nothing to hide. When the bribe was paid, why did he not call and report it to the agencies if he had nothing to,” the Zenon boss claimed.
The surprise/confusion
However, for a people, who before now believed in Lawan’s integrity exaltations having same man at the centre of this controversy, has remained a shocking development. Besides the public mood, this development has reportedly upset the leadership of the House, given that the man in the eye of the storm, had always been relied upon each time the integrity of the House is being questioned in the court of public opinion.
With this current allegation, VF investigations revealed that there are fears that the report of the fuel subsidy probe, has been ultimately submerged by the Farouk/Otedola issue.
Presently, the matter has been referred to the ethics committee to investigate the involvement of Lawan in the $3 million bribery scandal.
Public anger/nagging questions
Against the backdrop of this development, which has become a recurring decimal, further checks revealed that the major question on the lips of many is: Why are those saddled with handling probe panels, always fingered by those they are investigating? Why does this development usually consume ongoing probes?
Against the backdrop of this development, which has become a recurring decimal, further checks revealed that the major question on the lips of many is: Why are those saddled with handling probe panels, always fingered by those they are investigating? Why does this development usually consume ongoing probes?
Providing answer to this, President of Coalition Against Corrupt People, COACP,Mr. Debo Adebowale observed that, ‘’the major factor here is greed, the person that dispenses justice is not interested in real justice.’’
For him, “the lawmakers are always cut in this web, because they are not honourable and distinguished as they claim. This is what you get when people of questionable charcater are elected or rigged into the hallowed chambers. I mean we are tired of talking because, we have not had any result. I can tell you that inspite of the number of probe panels that we have had since 1999, but who has been brought to book?.’’
Continuing, Adebowale added thus: “It is for this reason that people are no longer interested in their probes that lead to no where. We are are not fools neither are we living in the animal farm. We are civilised people, who deserve the best from our leaders. The problem is an institutional crisis that needs to be tackled from the grassroots to the top.’’
Adebowale’s position also found strength in a paper presented by a Senator, Prof Sola Adeyeye.
The report titled Probes to Nowhere: Getting the Dividends, which frowned at consistent legislative probe that had yielded nothing.
Accordingly Adeyeye said, ‘’I’m now strongly of the view that we have to begin to think of how to make these probes productive for the ordinary people. I mean, Mohammed Adoke, the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice in a pre-emptory strike against implementation of the subsidy Report is already declaring it only as a “fact-finding exercise”, but I wonder whether it is wise to spend such colossal sums as we have on these fact-finding exercises without doing anything about their findings. How long would this continue before the bottom drops off the bucket?
‘’But as I stated at the beginning, I am sick and tired of public money being siphoned by unscrupulous public officials and tons of public money spent by parliament on probes upon probes that end up in the executive waste basket! As a citizen sitting through these and watching on TV, I’m worried stiff that the politicians of my generation are missing the opportunity to make a positive change in my nation. The consequence of such inaction can only be imagined.”
Calculated actions
But the Executive Director of Federation of Responsive Governance, Dr. Balonye Odiaka disagreed that the executive is generally responsible for the fruitless probes.
Odiaka, who agreed that it is about time Nigerians rose in unison against endless investigative probe panels, disclosed that the executive could be held responsible to some extent for the distractions that arises during probes.
Citing the Elumelu and Lawan’s case as an example, he said: ‘’Yesterday, we talked about Elumelu, and Otteh, today it is Farouk Lawan. When you look closely into the Farouk and Elumelu issue, you discover that the issue is beyond what we are seeing and being told. The case of the duo frustrated the outcome of the reports, instead of talking about implementing the reports, we are now faced with weighty allegations against those who investigated. We should be wise and demand for a fair deal from our leaders.”
For secretary of the National Summit Group, NSG,Mr. Tony Uranta, ‘’I think the fact that we have not fully evolved the culture of checks and balances and the culture of self accountability, especially the increasing falling standard of our value system has brought about this recurring loss of accountability in the national assembly.”
Uranta also added thus: “You know that some people, who have been found wanting by the National Assembly and have been prosecuted, have never been convicted. This might be a calculated inaction and action by the anti-graft agencies. There may be a calculated reluctance not to prosecute. I believe that government itself may not be able to do more than it is doing because it is presently fallible and riddled with corruption. It is therefore the duty of the electorate to hold all elected public officers accountable, it should not be limited to the National Assembly.”
