Ise-Oluwa Ige
9 May 2008
Lagos — IMMEDIATE past President Olusegun Obasanjo is yet to receive the House of Representatives Power Committee's letter inviting him to come and testify on Monday on the ongoing probe of the power sector between 1999 and 2007.
However, the Attorney-General of the Federation and Justice Minister, Chief Michael Aondoakaa (SAN), speaking yesterday in Abuja said Chief Obasanjo and other former and serving government officials named in the probe would be prosecuted if indicted.
Spokesman for the former President, Mr. Adeoba Ojekunle, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that as at noon yesterday, the Reps' summons had yet to be received.
He said he was directed to remain in Ota specifically to collect the invitation letter it it came.
"When the news of the alleged invitation to the former President to appear before the House of Representatives Committee looking into the expenditure on power from 1999 to 2007 was broken, he sent me to Ota to see if any such invitation was in Ota as reported in the press," he was quoted as saying.
Explaining that Obasanjo now lives in Abeokuta, Ojekunle said the former President had directed him to remain in Ota to receive the invitation.
"Such a letter has not been delivered in Ota up to this moment (mid-day, Thursday, May 8, 2008). I remain in Ota so as to forward any such invitation to the former President in Abeokuta for his reaction or follow-up action," he said.
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar who is currently out of the country has already confirmed his intention to honour the summons.
OBJ, Abdulsalami, others 'll face trial if... A-G
Meanwhile, the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Chief Andoakaa (SAN), yesterday vowed to prosecute ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo, his predecessor, Gen Abdulsalami Abubakar and top government officials named in various on-going probes at the National Assembly if indicted.
"If the revelations emanating from the various probes in the National Assembly today were known, maybe, we would have suffered the shameful embarrassment of being rated the most corrupt nation in the world," he said in Abuja while briefing reporters on the activities of his ministry.
"My office is monitoring with keen interest the probes that are going on in the National Assembly. Once the reports are completed and forwarded to us, we shall prosecute without exemption, all those who are found culpable.
"Let me declare once more, that nobody is above the law and so, nobody who runs foul of the law will be spared, no matter how highly placed.
"Whether it is a former or serving public official that is implicated or charged with any criminal wrongdoing, be rest assured that the public interest and the public good will drive the position and response of my office as Attorney-General of the Federation," he said.
He spoke extensively on the war on corruption embarked upon; institutional reforms in the Justice Ministry; administration of criminal justice reform; administration of civil justice system reforms; legislative reforms, among others.
Nobody above the law - AG
He said: "On July 26, 2007, I took the oath of office to serve as AGF and Minister of Justice. As we started the journey with rule of law as the driving force, it was not an easy task, most especially as the initial reaction and perception of the public was that government's insistence on rule of law was a smokescreen to prevent some highly placed Nigerians from facing the law.
"You are not unaware of the lawlessness, if not outright anarchy that preceded the present administration.
"The records of abuse of powers through unlawful arrests and detentions, unjust and unwarranted impeachments that were upturned by the Supreme Court, flagrant disobedience of court orders and many other violations of the principles of the rule of law by individuals, corporate organisations and government agencies in this country
"It is a sad reality of our recent past that the country was plundered mercilessly and without regard to decency, morality and fear of God by political office holders and other categories of public officers.
"Their past-time was to unjustly and unjustifiably enrich themselves at the expense of the tax payers. Our economy was ruined in the process. Our hopes for greater tomorrow appear to have been dashed. Our value system is at the verge of total collapse by the evil of corruption.
"This was the situation despite the presence of EFCC and the ICPC endowed by law with the enormous powers of octopus to fight corruption.
"Could it be that the corruption of the magnitude that is being exposed now, actually escaped their notice?
"It may look as if these agencies engaged in selective persecution of enemies of that order and gave protective cover to others to plunder and rape this nation.
"Since I took over as Attorney-General of the Federation, I have insisted that we must fight corruption decently and yet eradicate it. We must not pursue corruption from the standpoint of the proverbial person who ran from the stream naked in pursuit of the mad man that took his cloth while he was bathing.
"In running after a madman naked, there can be no difference between you and the madman. People who indulge in corruption are not just unreasonable, they are insane. It is now clear that the gangsterism that was put into the war on corruption was selective and unjust.
"In the present dispensation, we insist that the fight against corruption must be done within the framework and the premise of the law.
"If the anger of Nigerians today was not restrained by the rule of law, those who were championing the war on corruption would be mobbed for their selectivity and for the fact that it now appears they were making all the noise as a diversionary tactic to allow the main corruption to go unnoticed.
"In this vein, gentlemen of the press, my office is monitoring with keen interest the probes that are going on in the National Assembly.
Once the reports are completed and forwarded to us, we shall prosecute without exemption, all those who are found culpable. Let me declare once more, than nobody is above the law and so, nobody who runs foul of the law will be spared, no matter how highly placed.
"Whether it is a former or serving public official that is implicated or charged with any criminal wrongdoing, be rest assured that the public interest and the public good will drive the position and response of my office as Attorney-General of the Federation.
"I want to reassure Nigerians that we are committed to the fight against corruption. The various prosecutorial agencies are at alert and awake to their responsibilities.
"I am in constant touch with the EFCC, ICPC, the Police, the NDLEA, Code of Conduct Bureau as well as the DPP's Office and we are all committed to taking action on an accelerated basis once a prima facie case has been established.
"In order to facilitate the war on corruption, we are now working out the modalities to have special courts to try corruption and financial crime offenders. We shall not be selective. We shall bring everybody to book no matter how highly placed for the law is no respecter of persons," he said.
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