*It has become embarrassing — Lawmakers
*’We are being ridiculed’

BY OKEY NDIRIBE & EMMAN OVUAKPORIE

Some of  members of the House of Representatives have expressed displeasure over the  embarrassing dimension the bribery scandal involving the former Chairman of the House’s Adhoc Committee on Petroleum Subsidy Regime Farouk Lawan assumed last Tuesday.

Chairman of Zenon Petroleum and Gas Ltd Femi Otedola who had accused Lawan of extorting $620,000 from him as part of a $3 million bribe the law-maker allegedly demanded had appeared before the House Committee on Ethics and Privileges in response to an invitation extended to him by the Committee which had earlier been mandated by the leadership of the House to investigate the allegation.

However, the Committee’s session with Otedola ended in a stalemate as the oil mogul refused to comply with the directive of the Committee Chairman that the investigative hearing be held behind closed doors.

Otedola had insisted before the Committee that he would give evidence relating to his allegation of giving $620,000 to Hon. Farouk Lawan only if the Committee conducts an open hearing.

The oil magnate spoke through his lawyer, BabaJide Koku (SAN), immediately after he left the venue of the investigative hearing into the allegation he leveled against Lawan.

Giving further reasons why his client won’t speak to the Committee in camera, Koku said Farouk Lawan had exhibited a high degree of inconsistency in his responses to the allegations against him.

According to Koku:  “Lawan has lied four times. He initially denied collecting any money from Otedola and later admitted”.

Farouk Lawan and Otedola

He continued: “ Again he said he handed over the money  to the Chairman of the House Committee on Drugs, Narcotics and Financial Crimes, Hon Adams Jagaba, but Jagaba has denied collecting any money from him.”

Indeed, the Committee’s insistence that it must conduct its hearing in camera raised a lot of dust as many Nigerians expressed surprise over the development thereby questioning the integrity of the House.

Nevertheless, members of the Green Chamber who spoke on the incident in confidence complained that the Lawan bribe saga had dragged the name of the House in the mud and resulted in some members  removing the number plates of their cars bearing the National Assembly to avoid embarrassment from members of the public “who now see us all as corrupt.”

Other members who spoke to Sunday Vanguard said that the leadership of the House made a  major blunder by not making the hearing by the Committee on Ethics and Privileges public since the House had established a tradition of conducting such probes openly to promote transparency.

In fact, a member who felt “seriously embarrassed by the show of shame last Tuesday” cited a past investigative hearing into the N2.3billion car scam of 2008 during which all the proceedings were made public and at the end of the day the whole “issue was amicably resolved because there was nothing to hide from the public.”

Another member who spoke on the issue remarked: “Why the House leadership is shielding Farouk Lawan from the public is what we find extremely difficult to understand because in the first place, in order to allow proper investigations, the House ought to have suspended him.”

Commenting on how Otedola’s request for an open hearing diminished the moral authority of   the investigative panel, another source close to the leadership asked: ”How do you expect a committee Chairman that is a first timer to professionally handle such a sensitive panel without making unpardonable mistakes?”

He continued: “His utterances smacked of somebody who easily forgets that as a leader of such a panel, words should be scarce from his mouth, but most of us were not surprised because the man is new here and went a long way in exhibiting his inexperience.”

Appraising the composition of some committees of the House, the source explained that “there are certain House Committees that should not be handled by new members or those suspected to have oily hands”.

He continued: “Committees like Ethics and Privileges, Public Accounts, House Services, Public Petitions and a few others are rather too sensitive for new members to chair because they need to know the rudiments in legislative matters to handle such committees.

“The leadership has not been firm on this issue; Dino Melaye and others did not commit offences of this magnitude before the former Speaker Dimeji Bankole sent them packing from the House and he threw open the probe of the car scam in 2008.

“The Speaker has done a lot to carry everybody along but the truth is that in some cases he should throw diplomacy into the garbage can and deal decisively with this matter that has made it almost shameful to be a member of  the House of Representatives. My brother it is a shame.”

Another member who is also not too happy with the bashing the House has received of late did not mince words when he told Sunday Vanguard: “Everything we did in the last one year has been rubbished by one individual’s greed. Most of us feel ashamed before our constituents that believed in us to deliver the elusive dividends of democracy.”

Indeed, there has been public outrage over the bribery scandal which emanated from the decision of the House to investigate the disbursement of the Petroleum Subsidy regime for the past three years. This was on display mid last month- on the very first day of the current legislative year when a group of protesters stormed the premises of the National Assembly to protest against corruption in the House. Members of the House were actually holding a plenary session when the protesters arrived.

Joe Mesele, spokesman for the group which consisted of youths under the umbrella of Nigeria Youths for Good Governance (NYGG) said their mission to the National Assembly was to protest against corruption in the legislative arm of government.

Speaking to newsmen at the premises of the National Assembly, Mesele lambasted legislators for repeatedly getting involved in acts of corruption. The protesters carried placards with different inscriptions.

According to Mesele: “We feel that as responsible and patriotic Nigerians we should come here today to formally make a presentation in the form of a protest to the National Assembly so that  members would know we are watching them keenly and we are not happy about what they are doing”.

He reminded members of the House that “It was our protest that gave room for the setting up of the Adhoc Committee on Fuel Subsidy by the House of Representatives. The work of that Committee was applauded by the people. But now that many allegations have been leveled against Farouk Lawan the Chairman of that Committee, those allegations have to be thoroughly investigated.”

Many other civil society groups and organizations across the country have also expressed disgust over the unfolding scandal.

However, the Chairman of the House Committee on Media, Hon. Zakari Mohammed, does not share the views expressed by some of his colleagues.

Commenting on the impact the scandal may have had on the public perception of the image of the House, Mohammed said that the alleged misdeeds of a member should not be used to judge the entire House adding that there were many members of the lower chamber who were well respected in their various professions and communities.