28 August 2008
Lagos — Action Congress (AC) has described as shocking, the signing of a fresh power deal with German company Siemens by the federal government, saying it negates government's own decision on the firm following its (Siemens's) involvement in a massive bribery scandal.
In a statement issued in Abuja on Wednesday by its National Public Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party recalled that the Federal Executive Council, in December 2007, barred Siemens from bidding for any fresh contract in the country, pending the conclusion of investigations into its 10 million euro bribery of Nigerian officials.
AC also recalled that in the aftermath of the bribery-for-contract scandal, said to have involved four former Communications Ministers among other top government officials, President Umaru Yar'Adua had directed all relevant security agencies to probe the scandal.
In fact, the President said there would be no sacred cow or a cover up "for anybody found culpable of breaching the law".
"To the best of our knowledge, the outcome of the probe, if at all it has been concluded, has not been made public. There is therefore no evidence that Siemens or any of those involved had been exonerated. We are therefore baffled that the federal government has eaten its own words that there will be no cover up or sacred cow.
"Indeed, the Yar'Adua administration, by hurrying to sign a fresh deal with Siemens when the company has not been cleared of the bribery charges against it, has turned the German engineering firm into a sacred cow, undermined his own administration's anti-corruption battle and made Nigeria a laughing stock.
"The action has also shown that the government does not mean what it says, which is a big blow to its credibility in the eyes of the citizens and non-citizens alike," AC said.
It said with the six-million-dollar Wilbros bribery scandal and the 12 million euro (10 million of which allegedly went to Nigerian officials) Siemens bribery scandal yet unresolved, the government has also succeeded in wittingly or unwittingly creating an atmosphere of impunity for other foreign firms operating in Nigeria.
"If it is true, as reported by the media, that the anti-corruption agencies were not consulted before the Siemens's deal was signed, then the Yar'Adua administration has a lot of explanations to make, the party said.
"Recall that in a statement on Nov. 18th 2007, we (AC) had warned: 'If ever any government has a chance to show its anti-corruption campaign is not a fluke, it is this (Yar'Adua) government, considering the rate at which the corruption allegations are being made against public officials, in both the past and present administrations'."
"That warning is as true today as it was then, and we call on the Yar'Adua administration to admit it has made a mistake in signing a fresh contract with Siemens's and cancel the deal altogether.
"In the alternative, the government should provide concerned Nigerians with evidence to show that the company has been cleared of the bribery charges against it, hence can now bid for fresh contracts," AC added.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 Daily Champion. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
