By Soni Daniel, Northern Region Editor & Abdulwahab Abdulah

Second Republic lawmaker, Dr. Junaid Mohammed, has lent a voice to former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s categorisation of Nigeria’s lawmakers as corrupt and undeserving of the honour being bestowed on them by the people.

Junaid, who spoke with Vanguard in response to the furore generated by Obasanjo’s salvo fired at lawmaker on Monday  at the Presidential Villa, said the former President was damn right in his claim and deserves commendation for mustering the courage to speak out.

The former Presidential Adviser to Shehu Shagari pointed out that none of the members of the present and past National Assembly had, by their actions and utterances, given Nigeria a good image and should, therefore, attempt to insult Obasanjo.

Junaid said:  “It is commonly assumed by overwhelming majority of Nigerians that the NASS from 1999 till date has not done anything worthy of note apart from struggling for pecuniary benefits and other untoward purposes that diminish the image of Nigeria and its people.

“Clearly, if many of them, including principal officers, don’t come with fake certificates, they engage in outright corruption and falsification of documents to boost their personal ego while others fight dirty on the floor of the NASS all in the quest for illicit advantage.

While calling on the federal government to put in place the needed political will to prosecute erring NASS members, Junaid said such a move was necessary to prove to the lawmakers that they were not above the law and could not continue to operate with tainted hands.

“With these types of lawmakers, Nigeria can never redeem its image in the international community and an urgent need therefore arises for the government to be wary of those to be given tickets into the hallowed chambers of the NASS as is the case in other climes,” Junaid said.

It would be recalled that Obasanjo had slammed the lawmakers  on Monday, describing the NASS as being made of rogues and thieves.

…SERAP drags House before UN

As the controversy rages over alleged budget padding, Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, SERAP, has appealed to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights to prevail on the House of Representatives to explain the alleged N481billion infused into the 2016 budget.

In a petition to Professor Philip Alston, the UN Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights, SERAP urged him to prevail on the leadership of the House of Representatives to explain the alleged deliberate padding of the 2016 budget with N481 billion.

Besides, the group asked the UN body to request for explanation on the removal of critical projects and replacement of such projects with constituency projects, which according to SERAP, have not only undermined the fight against corruption in the country but also exacerbated extreme poverty and violations of internationally recognized human rights.

SERAP Executive Director, Adetokunbo Mumuni, stated: “SERAP considers the alleged budget padding, diversion of public funds and abuse of office by the leadership of the House of Representatives as amounting to a deliberate retrogressive action, which cannot be justified by reference to the totality of internationally recognized human rights, and in the context of the obligation to fully use the maximum available resources to fulfil and ensure the enjoyment of those rights.”

The petition, which was also sent to Mr Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights; the Conference of States Parties to the UN Convention against Corruption and the Inter-Parliamentary Union, also expressed concern that the alleged corrupt budget process in House of Representatives will further weaken the worst economic   situation in Nigeria.

It, therefore, requested the Special Rapporteur to express public concerns and put pressure on independent and transparent investigation of the allegations of budget padding, diversion of public funds and abuse of office.