Rotimi Ajayi
20 March 2005
Abuja — SENATE President Adolphus Wabara weekend broke his silence over the budget bribery scandal which led to the alleged arrest of the Minister of Education, Professor Fabian Osuji, by the agents of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), saying he has no regrets for facilitating a meeting between the Minister and legislators during the 2005 Budget preparation.
The Senate President, however, denied in a statement issued in Abuja yesterday by his Special Adviser on Media Affairs, Henry Ugbolue, that he was involved in the alleged payment of money to the legislators to jerk up the ministry"s budget.
Osuji was said to have been arrested last Thursday by the EFCC to help in the investigations of the alleged payment of N55 million to the lawmakers to raise the allocation to his ministry in the Federal Government budget.
Top officials of Federal Government colleges, alleged to have contributed the money, have also, according to EFCC sources, been slated for interrogation.
Wabara, in the statement, said that he was involved only in brokering a truce between the minister and members of the education committees of the National Assembly during the budget preparation.
The statement read, "Following recent insinuations that the President of the Senate, Chief Adolphus Wabara, may be connected one way or the other with the alleged bribery of some members of the National Assembly by the Minister of Education, it has become very important to react as follows:
"Sometimes in December 2004, a Senator, who is a close friend of the Minister of Education, Professor Fabian Osuji, reported to the President of the Senate that the Minister was having serious problems with the chairmen of the education committees in both the senate and the House of Representatives concerning the budget of the ministry of education.
"The Senator pleaded for the urgent intervention of the President of the Senate.
"The President of Senate accepted to intervene so as to ensure quick passage of the 2005 budget, which was then before the National Assembly, and to continue to maintain cordial relationship between the executive and legislature in the interest of the Nigerian people.
"The President thereafter called a meeting of the leadership of the education committees of both houses of the National Assembly in his official home in Apo Quarters, with the Minister of Education in attendance. Both parties discussed their differences over the budget in very frank manner.
"The President of the Senate urged the minister and the legislators to shelve their differences and work together in the interest of the education sector, which is very vital to national development. Based on his entreaties, both parties agreed to sheath their swords, and it was on this good note that the meeting ended.
"At no point at the meeting was any form of monetary demands made from the Minister and at no point did the President of the Senate ask the minister to give money to anybody.
"Till date, the President of the Senate is not aware that the minister gave money to anybody in connection with what transpired at the said meeting nor was any money given to the President of the Senate for breaking the stalemate or to a third party for transmission to him.
"In any cases, the President of the Senate did not expect the Minister to give money to anybody because it wasn't part of the discussion.
'It must be placed on record that the President of the Senate merely brokered truce between the National Assembly committees on education and the minister in pursuance of his statutory functions as chairman of the National Assembly and he has no regrets whatsoever for this"
A member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Abdullahi Yerima, had a couple of weeks ago alleged massive corruption in the National Assembly.
Among other allegations by the representative was that members of National Assembly were collecting free recharge cards from GSM service providers on monthly basis.
Yerima equally accused ministers of bribing federal lawmakers to get their allocations raised.
The lawmaker's colleagues in the House of Representatives, reacting to the allegations, suspended him for four weeks.
He is yet to be recalled.
Following the lawmaker's allegations, President Olusegun Obasanjo was said to have told ministers at a recent Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting to own up if they were involved in the alleged deal with the lawmakers.
Obasanjo reportedly threatened unpleasant consequences if they failed to heed his advice.
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