By BEN AGANDE & INALEGWU SHAIBU
ABUJA— CHAIRMAN of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Mrs. Farida Waziri, yesterday, challenged members of the National Assembly to make public their salaries and allowances in order to remove the public distrust against members of the National Assembly from the public.

Mrs. Waziri who spoke at a one day Interactive Session for members of the National Assembly also assured members of the National Assembly that those whose hands were not soiled by corruption had nothing to fear as the commission would only target those who dipped their hands in the public till.

She said that the EFCC under her leadership would not be teleguided by any body to achieve political vendetta, adding: “Our expectation from the seventh National Assembly is that they should raise the bar on public probity and accountability by making public their salaries and allowances. This will ensure that the rumour mill about their salaries and allowances is cancelled.”

Mrs. Waziri who reiterated that corruption had become endemic in Nigeria requested the National Assembly to strengthen the war against corruption by passing anti corruption bills and creating special courts to help the commission tackle corruption.

She said: “The exercise of parliamentary oversight functions must be thorough, focused and devoid of politics, while reports from such exercise should be forwarded to the EFCC for further action.”

Mrs. Waziri enjoined the legislators to “consider and expeditiously pass; the non_conviction based asset recovery bill.

This bill is in full conformity with the United Nations Convention against Corruption, UNCAC, to which Nigeria is a party. It is a major weapon in the fight against corruption used by many countries.

Speaking up against corruption

“The Special Courts (Establishment Bill), Evidence Act (Amendment) Bill. These laws are a must for a successful anti-corruption fight. The National Assembly must speak up against corruption and act and demonstrate total commitment to the fight against corruption.”

But the Chairman of Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission, RMAFC, Mr. Elias Mbam who spoke on the jumbo pay issue during the interactive session denied knowledge of jumbo pay for lawmakers.

The RMAFC boss called on the Clerk of the National Assembly to consider the publication of the entitlements of the lawmakers to put paid to the rumour making the rounds that members of the National Assembly allocate huge resources to themselves.

Senator Ita Enang, PDP, Akwa Ibom who kicked against the attack on lawmakers challenged the commission to publish the remuneration of lawmakers for Nigerians to see.

He said: “The issue of remuneration had been used to blackmail members of the National Assembly. Ministers and other office_holders in the executive arm of government collected higher remuneration than members of the legislature but it was never talked about in the public.”

Earlier, Senate president David Mark reiterated the commitment of members of the seventh National Assembly work in harmony in order to alleviate the suffering of the masses.

He said: “When it come to working as a team, there is only one National Assembly, there is no need for an agency to seek clearance from the Senate and go further to House of Representatives for another. When we work together, things work smoother. Public service is a trust. As we all know, the legislature is the least understood arm of government in our country. Therefore, as representatives of the people, we must earn and maintain public confidence and trust.”