You Romance Corruption Openly ––Tambuwal Blasts Jonathan
Speaker Aminu Tambuwal, on Monday, declared that President Goodluck Jonathan’s “body language” did not indicate that he had the political will and good conscious to fight corruption in the country.
"Coming to what happened in the aviation industry recently, do we need an angel to report to the EFCC that something happened there? No, we don’t.
"What we have is that the National Security Adviser, who should have been more seriously interested and concerned about the security situation in this country, is being given an assignment to investigate what is clearly obvious."The Speaker decried President Jonathan’s penchant for setting up committees to probe corruption allegations and what he termed “the culture of undue secrecy surrounding the operation of government.”
Tambuwal listed the oil subsidy and Security and Exchange Commission scandals, the Pension scam as well as the Stella Oduah N255m car purchase scandal to buttress his allegation of Jonathan’s perceived paying of lip service to the war against corruption.
The speaker also came hard on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, accusing it of being corrupt.
He was reacting to issues raised during the question and answer session at an event organised by the NBA to mark the 2013 International Anti-corruption Day in Abuja.
Tambuwal had said: “The Executive, by constituting committees to investigate what ordinarily would have been investigated by the EFCC, the ICPC and the Code of Conduct Bureau, is engaged in a duplication of effort.
“We do our own; we have been mandated by the 1999 Constitution to do it. They have been established by law to do what they do.
“The Executive has no business in establishing their own (committees). They should just refer corruption issues, if they mean business, to the EFCC. Let the Executive have the will of referring these matters, from the office of Mr. President, to the EFCC and see what will happen.
“By the action of setting up different committees for straightforward cases, the President’s body language doesn’t tend to support the fight against corruption.”
Turning to the EFCC Chairman rep at the event, Tambuwal Said:
“Let us start with the anti-corruption agencies. I am happy that EFCC is
here because they are also corrupt. Let us start by asking them what
happens to the grants they receive from donor agencies which are
neither budgeted nor accounted for? That is corruption.
“This is why we have asked the House Committee on EFCC to look into some of these issues and report back.
“The EFCC said it had started implementing the report on the probe of the fuel subsidy regime. Let me say it here today (Monday) that what EFCC said it was implementing was not the House report which exposed the enormous fraud in the system, but the one by Mr. Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede.
“The last the House heard from you on the subsidy report was when you requested me, the Speaker, to ask some members of the House to come and help you do your work. You also asked for explanations on some of the recommendations.
“I said no, it is not part of our job. We have done our bit; go and do yours.
“What has happened to all the exposed corruption cases? Of course, the pension scam is there. There are also the recent and obvious fraud in the aviation sector and that of the SEC where trillions of naira from private investors were suspected to have been mismanaged.
“When we commenced investigation into the SEC matter, what became of paramount interest to the EFCC was an allegation that one of our members collected $4,000 as estacode to travel but failed to do so.
“Our members were immediately rushed to court for prosecution. Meanwhile, the top government officer that was found culpable in the main fraud for which the National Assembly called for public hearing, nothing has happened to her till date. I have not heard or read anywhere that she was invited by the EFCC or that any member of SEC was even invited.
“We all belong to this country and so people should stop taking us for granted,” Tambuwal warns.
“This is why we have asked the House Committee on EFCC to look into some of these issues and report back.
“The EFCC said it had started implementing the report on the probe of the fuel subsidy regime. Let me say it here today (Monday) that what EFCC said it was implementing was not the House report which exposed the enormous fraud in the system, but the one by Mr. Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede.
“The last the House heard from you on the subsidy report was when you requested me, the Speaker, to ask some members of the House to come and help you do your work. You also asked for explanations on some of the recommendations.
“I said no, it is not part of our job. We have done our bit; go and do yours.
“What has happened to all the exposed corruption cases? Of course, the pension scam is there. There are also the recent and obvious fraud in the aviation sector and that of the SEC where trillions of naira from private investors were suspected to have been mismanaged.
“When we commenced investigation into the SEC matter, what became of paramount interest to the EFCC was an allegation that one of our members collected $4,000 as estacode to travel but failed to do so.
“Our members were immediately rushed to court for prosecution. Meanwhile, the top government officer that was found culpable in the main fraud for which the National Assembly called for public hearing, nothing has happened to her till date. I have not heard or read anywhere that she was invited by the EFCC or that any member of SEC was even invited.
“We all belong to this country and so people should stop taking us for granted,” Tambuwal warns.
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