Oteh, others to face Ethics Committee
CHARIMAN, Federal House of Representatives Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Zakari Mohammed, yesterday confirmed the submission of the House’s report on the probe of the Federal Government petroleum subsidy programme to the Presidency, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) and the Federal Attorney General’s Office.
Besides, the Director General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Ms Atunma Oteh is to face the Samson Osagie-led House Panel on Ethics and Privileges, to explain the N44 million bribe allegations she leveled against Herman Hember, who was forced to step down as Chairman, House Committee on Capital Market and Institutions.
Fielding questions on the in-house probe into the bribery allegations yesterday in Abuja, Zakari asserted that all the mentioned agencies have also confirmed the receipt of the report.
“We have received acknowledgement of the delivery of the report, so we are not aware of any agency of government that is supposed to, and has not gotten the report. I am confirming that we have sent the report to the appropriate offices and we are expecting that we will be on the same page on the implementation of the outcome of that investigation,“ he declared.
Meanwhile, Speaker of the House, Aminu Tambuwal has sought the support of the United States of America’s parliament on the House’s fight against corruption in the country. Receiving the American Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr Terence Macaulay, who paid him a courtesy visit yesterday, Tambuwal said the American parliament and those of other countries in the West could help Nigeria and other third world nations by enacting legislations that “prohibit the receiving of suspicious wealth into your country.”
Macaulay, who spoke on the long standing diplomatic relationship between Nigeria and America, also said he was in the Speaker’s office to discuss matters of bilateral relations, Tambuwal’s views on the current insecurity in Nigeria and issues relating to the oil and gas sector, especially as they relate to the Petroleum Industry Bill.
Also, the House has urged the Acting Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar to urgently unveil a strategic plan to tackle the rising wave of kidnapping and killings prevailing in the South Eastern part of the country. This followed the adoption of a motion of urgent national importance brought by a member, Chris Azubogu, whose father was a victim of kidnapping. Azubogu blamed what he described as the increasing wave of insecurity in the area on the removal of Police Check Points.
The House has also moved to investigate the level of execution of various projects by government ministries, departments and agencies from 2009 to date, with a view to ascertaining how many of the approved ones as contained in the respective annual budgets had been successfully executed, the on-going as well as the abandoned ones.
In a resolution on a motion moved by Deputy Majority Leader, Leo Ogor yesterday, the House directed all its standing committees to, within 60 days, provide comprehensive reports on all such projects within their purview. This, the House said, would prepare the parliament for the 2013 budget expected presented in September.
In the same vein, the House has also urged the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Anyim Pius Anyim to, within two weeks, furnish it with a copy the report of the Architect Ibrahim Bunu Sheriff’s Committee, set up to verify the number of abandoned federal government projects in the country.
SOURCE: Guardian Newspaper, 11 April 2012. http://ngrguardiannews.com/
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