By Soni Daniel, Northern Region Editor

Abuja—The venue of  a leadership training programme for members of the House of Representatives Committee on Financial Crimes, yesterday, turned into a verbal confrontation between members of the National Assembly and a presidential aide, Okoi Obono-Obla.

NASS

Obono-Obla is Chairman of the Special Presidential Investigation Panel for the Recovery of Public Property.

Although the presidential aide was invited by the organisers of the event, led by a civil society group, Human and Environmental Development Agenda, HEDA, to share his experience in the corruption fight, he used the opportunity to attack members of the National Assembly who recently moved against him and his panel.

He said the lawmakers described him as a fake lawyer and moved for abolition of his panel  with immediate effect.

However, the lawyer, who sat beside the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yusuf Lasun, who presided over the event cried out, saying he needed the protection of Nigerians to be able to push through the critical assignment given to him by the President to expose and fight corruption.

He said without adequate protection from those who do not want their corrupt practices exposed, credible persons recruited for the anti-corruption crusade would not be keen on taking up such roles.

He said: “I am appealing to Nigerians to protect those of us who have been given this difficult work of fighting corruption.”