The Economic and Finan-cial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has said it will set up a special committee to conduct a thorough investigation into the allegations of corruption and abuse of office levelled against the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Dimeji Bankole.
The Progressives, a group of lawmakers in the House, had recently alleged that Bankole misappropriated the sum of N9 billion being capital votes expended by the House in the 2008 and 2009 fiscal years.
But as the House resumes plenary today, a stormy session seems underway as members of the Progressives said they would table the fraud allegations against Bankole on the floor of the House.
However, sources said a gale of suspension may sweep through the Green Chamber in a move by the leadership to curb what a source called "the excesses of some dissident members.
EFCC Chairman Mrs. Farida Waziri who expressed the agency’s readiness to investigate the sundry allegations against Bankole and other principal officers of the House said the current spate of allegations of corruption cannot be swept under the carpet because the lower chamber of the National Assembly has had more than its fair share of scandals over the past 11 years.
Waziri spoke when she met with members of the Progressives who were at the EFCC’s office to submit a formal petition on their allegations.
According to her, there is need to sanitise the House and save the country the embarrassment of having a parliament where allegations of corruption have become a recurring decimal.
However, Chairman of the House Committee on Media and Publicity, Hon. Eseme Eyiboh, has expressed appreciation to the commission over its interest in the affairs of the chamber but said the House under Bankole had demonstrated keen interest on issues of transparency and accountability.
“The House of Representatives appreciates the interest of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC Chairman, Mrs. Farida Waziri, in requesting the House to explore available avenues to collaborate with it to thin down avenues of graft.
“It is on record that the present House is known for its vigour and commitment to legislative engagements premised on transparency and rule of law. These avenues are exercised in our rules’ book and through various committees. We therefore request all agencies of government to avail itself of this synergy with the House,” Eyiboh said.
Arrowhead of the Progressives, Hon. Dino Melaye, who led his colleagues to submit the petition, had earlier told the EFCC boss that members of the Progressives decided to take their battle to the anti-graft agency because of their conviction that they have a genuine case.
Melaye, however, disclosed that they (Progressives) have been under intense pressure and threats of being suspended from the House since the crusade to probe the leadership of the House began two weeks ago.
The EFCC boss disclosed that hours before the lawmakers came to submit the petition; she had met with the secretary of the commission as well as the director of operations on how to go about the investigation.
“We have been pained when our country is being run down as a result of massive corruption. I am in a position to say it because as I sit here I know and I see what goes on and I feel so many pains. I think that with this step you have taken and the action that will follow, it is obvious that there is need to sanitize the House and make it like any other House any where in the World I am sure you have travelled to other houses of parliament.
“We don’t have to wait for you to come here to submit the petition before we do our job. We will swing into action. We have to salvage our nation. For the National Assembly, the House, I have been worried. I think most Nigerians have been very concerned because there have been scandals upon scandals in that House and that is the bastion of democracy and the hope for the common man.
“All the citizens who trusted you and voted you into that House feel that you are there to protect their interests. But when we have issues all the time starting from the era of Salisu Buhari, you remember the certificate forgery scam and now the car scam. I mean its something that is worrisome.”
And as it reconvenes, the House may go into an executive session to see how the issue at stake could be resolved amicably, failing which the big stick may be wielded if the members of the Progressives prove intransigent.
A source in the House said members of the group have breached Section 24 of the Legislative Houses (Powers and Privileges) Act CAP L12 as it concerns publications and reports.
Last Wednesday, following the expiration of a one-week ultimatum it gave Bankole to resign or be disgraced out of office, the Progressives addressed a press conference where it accused the Speaker of lack of transparency and financial misconduct and specifically demanded that he should account for N9 billion.
But the House leadership dismissed the accusation of reckless approvals of expenditure against Bankole, saying that award of contracts is not the business of the Speaker but the duty of the management of the National Assembly headed by the Clerk.
It also added that the Progressives had proved its ignorance on how funds budgeted for the House are spent.
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