BY CLIFFORD NDUJIHE & DAPO AKINREFON

Mixed reactions, yesterday, trailed remarks by Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal that the executive arm of government was paying lip service to the fight against corruption.

Tambuwal, who spoke as a guest speaker at the 2013 International Anti-corruption Day, organised by the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, in Abuja, on Monday, also alleged that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, was very corrupt, adding that the anti-graft body had never accounted for huge sums of money it received from donor agencies.

Overhaul EFCC — Agbakoba
Commenting on the issue, leading rights crusader and former President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Dr Olisa Agbakoba advised President Goodluck Jonathan not take Tambuwal’s statement in bad taste but rather see how he can deepen the anti-graft war.

Agbakoba said though he cannot verify or vouch for the accuracy of Tambuwal’s claims, he said it was a profound statement coming from the fourth man in government. “If I was the president I think I will be concerned whether the anti-corruption strategy or policy is working. For a long time, I have always advised that the anti-corruption strategies are weak.”
“What I took from the speaker’s statement whether it is true or not is that the government has to completely overhaul the EFCC including considering whether to unbundle it because what Nigerians want to see is that people who steal our money go to jail. The Jonathan government needs to take the anti corruption programme a lot more seriously,” he said.

Jonathan hasn’t done enough— Adebanjo
On his part, Afenifere chieftain, Chief Ayo Adebanjo said the President has not done enough to discourage corruption.

His words: “That is his (Tambuwal) own view and I have my own views. I am not going to fault or endorse it. I will not say he encourages corruption but the President has not done enough to discourage corruption.”
Tambuwal should start from the House – Mbagwu

Also speaking, Chief Cliff Mbagwu, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and management consultant, said that Tambuwal cannot exonerate himself or the National Assembly because he is part of the government and has the onerous duty of boosting the anti-corruption war.

His words: “The speaker is part of the government even though he belongs to the legislative arm. If the executive arm cannot fight corruption then the speaker also has some blames. Part of his duty is to fashion the legal framework to fight corruption. He is in-charge of lawmaking. Besides, the House of Representatives itself is corrupt.

Oversight function is now a source of income for the lawmakers as they intimidate ministers and agencies of government for money. If he is not acting the script of the opposition, let him start the anti-corruption war from the House. I agree with him that we are not fighting corruption but the problem is not with the executive alone. Let’s have the legal framework.”

Tambuwal lacks experience –Babatope
Former Minister of Transport and PDP chieftain, Chief Ebenezer Babatope berated the Speaker for making such remarks, saying he lacks experience.

“He (Tambuwal) is a young man and he could learn from experience. He is not supposed to have made that kind of statement. Does he not know that some House of Representatives members were picked up for corruption? What did he do? The young man lacks experience. He is a party man and what he has done is wrong. As a party man, he must learn from experience, he must be calm.

What evidence does he have to say that the president is not fighting corruption? Or does he want the president to go jail his cabinet members to show that he is fighting corruption? He should not play into the hands of those that want to destroy him. He is a young man who should build his party squarely and allow his party to dictate what is going to be his own political future.

At the rate he is going, he may fall into the wrong hands.”He is trying to score political points –Afenifere
To the Pan-Yoruba socio-cultural organisation, Afenifere, the Speaker was only trying to score political points.
Afenifere’s National Publicity Secretary, Mr Yinka Odumakin, in a telephone chat with Vanguard, said: “It is an indictment on the government that he is standing as the number four man.

If he really means what he is saying, he should not have waited for the time of decampment before making such statement. If he had done it that way, we would have taken him more seriously.