Victor Ahiuma Young
18 November 2008
Lagos Lawyer and Human rights activist, Chief Gani Fawehinmi (SAN), has said Mr. Festus Keyamo's corruption allegations against the leadership of House of Representatives regarding the purchase of cars from Peugeot Automobile Nigeria Limited (PAN) for its principal officials are very serious and too weighty to be swept under the carpet and demanded for immediate investigation by appropriate security and anti-graft agencies.
Specifically, the Radical Lagos Lawyer is calling on all security and anti-corruption agencies in the country especially the Police, State Security Service, Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Chief Fawehinmi in a statement yesterday, expressed shock and dismay the way and manner members treated and harassed Mr. Keyamo on October 29, 2008, when he appeared before the House Committee on Ethics and Privileges, lamenting that the members were more interested in querying Mr. Keyamo over his source of information and who gave him the right to demand for explanation from a public office holder.
According to Fawehinmi, during the so-called hearing the members of the Committee put themselves above the people of this country and the laws of the Nation, stressing that the conduct of members was quite abominable.
Chief Fawehinmi in a 7-page statement detailing the corruption allegations against the House leadership, said he was shocked when they questioned the source of Keyamo' s information in accusing the House of Representatives of fraudulent practices which allegations obviously amount to crime and unconstitutional behaviour of seemingly elected representatives.
He commended Mr. Keyamo for taking up the gauntlet to ensure that wherever corruption is found in Nigeria, Nigerians must fight against it and argued that this corruption allegations should not be allowed to be swept under the carpet.
According to the statement: "Festus Keyamo's allegations against the House of Representatives of the National Assembly regarding the purchase of cars from Peugeot Automobile Nigeria Limited (PAN) are very serious and they demand very quick investigation by all security agencies in the country including the Police, State Security Service, Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), etc."
Chief Fawehinmi said: "On the face of these allegations there is a prima facie case of gross corruption and abuse of office which amounts to a total violation of Section 15(5) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 that provides as follows: State shall abolish all corrupt practices and abuse of power.
I personally did not like the way the House of Representatives' Committee on Ethics and Privileges treated Festus Keyamo when he appeared before the Committee on Wednesday, 29th October, 2008.
The attitude of that Committee was disgraceful and totally unbecoming of members of the House of Representatives.
On that day and during the so-called hearing the members of the Committee put themselves above the people of this country and the laws of the Nation. That was quite abominable.
I was shocked when they questioned the source of Keyamo' s information in accusing the House of Representatives of fraudulent practices which allegations obviously amount to crime and unconstitutional behaviour of seemingly elected representatives."
"Surely, many of the members of the House of Representatives are lawyers and they should be aware of plethora of legal authorities that in proving crime, an accuser can obtain his information from any source.
I will refer to one of the authorities. It is the case of Torti Ufere Torti v. Chief Chris Ukpabi (1984) 1 SCNLR 214 at 239 - 240, paras. H-A .
In that case, the Supreme Court per Hon. Justice Aniagolu, JSC, stated the law as follows: "Again, as was held in Kuruma v. The Queen (1955) A.C. 197, the test to be applied, both in civil and in criminal cases, in considering whether evidence is admissible is whether it is relevant to the matter in issue. If it is, it is admissible and the Court is not concerned with how it was obtained.
Although I must express reservation on the wideness of that proposition which seems to suggest that relevant evidential material which was obtained even by felonious means was admissible once it is shown to be relevant, I would subscribe generally to the view that relevant evidence which is produced before a court would be admitted by that Court unless there is some compelling reason, based on some principle of law,, dictating its exclusion.
That case received consideration during the hearing of Musa Sadau and Another v. The State (1968) 1 All N.L.R. 124 in which about the same conclusion was arrived at."
Read comments. Write your own.
Copyright © 2008 Vanguard. 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.
see what Imean they are corrupt