Onwuka Nzeshi
18 November 2008
Abuja and Davidson Iriekpen in Lagos — Human rights lawyer, Chief Gani Fawehinmi (SAN), yesterday waded into the N2.3 billion car saga rocking the House of Representatives.
He called for a quick intervention of the nation's law enforcement agencies in the matter.
Also, Chairman of the House Committee on Co-operation and Integration in Africa, Hon. Independence Ogunewe, fingered in the alleged plot to overthrow the House leadership on account of the car saga, has dismissed insinuations that he was behind the plot.
He demanded a full scale investigation into the car deal, insisting that those who have the constitutional duty to probe others should equally subject themselves to scrutiny.
Lagos-based lawyer Festus Keyamo had ignited the lingering controversy when he raised questions over the purchase of 380 Peugeot vehicles by the House from Peugeot Auto-mobile Nigeria Limited (PAN).
Keyamo had said the House leadership had some explaining to do over the deal.
The House has since sent the matter to its committee on Ethics and Privileges to investigate.
But in a seven-page statement he personally signed, Fawehinmi said security agencies including the Police, State Security Service (SSS), Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Offences Commission (ICPC) should urgently investigate the scam.
He argued that on the face of the allegations, there was a prima facie case of gross corruption and abuse of office.
This, according to him, amounted to total violation of Section 15(5) of the 1999 Constitution, which states that "the states shall abolish all corrupt practices and abuse of power."
The human rights lawyer who disclosed that he did not like the way the House Committee on Ethics and Privileges treated Keyamo when he appeared before it, added that he was shocked when the committee questioned the source of his (Keyamo) information.
He said the attitude of the committee was "disgraceful and totally unbecoming of members of the House", adding that what members of the committee did, amounted to putting themselves above the country and the laws of the nation.
"Many of the members of the House of Representatives are lawyers and they should be aware of the plethora of legal authorities that say that in proving crime, an accuser can obtain his information from any source. I will refer to one of the authorities. It is case of Torti Ufere Torti v. Chief Chris Ukpabi (1984) 1 SCNLR 214 at 239-240."
Fawehinmi commended Keyamo for taking up the gauntlet by ensuring that wherever there was corruption in the country he fought against it, saying the accusation against the House leadership should not be allowed to be swept under the carpet.
In the letter dated October 19, 2008 and entitled, "Open Request for Explanation Regarding Allegations of Fraud in the House," Keyamo specifically asked House Speaker Dimeji Bankole to explain his role in the approval given for the purchase of 380 Peugeot 407 cars for the oversight functions of the House committees
Ogunewe, who was named alongside five other lawmakers in the said plot to overthrow Bankole, stated that he had always maintained a principled stand in matters bordering on transparency, anti-corruption and good governance and would not shy away from such principles in the present circumstance.
He recalled that during the Speaker Patricia Etteh's House renovation contract saga, he took a principled stand despite the fact that he was then serving as the House Committee Chairman on Aviation.
Apparently dissatisfied with the investigations being carried out by the House Committee on Ethics and Privileges, Ogunewe said the present crisis in the House would not be laid to rest until a "proper investigation" was conducted and full disclosures made on all aspects of the transaction between the National Assembly and PAN."
Ogunewe said: "There must be a full scale and unfettered investigation and full disclosure into the car purchase saga, and other sundry procurements, and that there should not be any attempt to cover-up or play down the entire saga.
"No amount of threat, blackmail, intimidation or smear campaign will deter me from treading the path of honour. Umar Farouk or whatever he calls himself is a needless and cheap diversionary tactics to play down the serious issues of transparency and accountability involved in the House car purchase saga. Nigerians are no fools not to recognize this!
"My position as far as this matter is concerned is the same position I took during a recent and similar saga in the House. And it is that those whose constitutional duty it is to exercise oversight function on the state and its institutions must themselves be open to public scrutiny in their own transactions."
Ogunewe said he neither recruited not financed the said Umar Farouk to undermine the integrity of the leadership of the House through press conferences and distribution of anti-Bankole leaflets.
"I don't know the said Umar Farouk and I have never held any meeting with him either privately or in conjunction with my colleagues as he claimed. This so-called activist claimed to have also held series of meetings in my house in Maitama. I do not have any house in Maitama whether owned or rented. I never offered anybody including this fellow any money or inducement for the purpose of smearing the Speaker or the entire House of Representatives by way of press interviews or circulation of leaflets as claimed by him.
"I have no personal relationship with any governor from the South West as he claimed in his presentation to the Ethics and Privileges Committee of the House," he stated.
Ogunewe, however, alleged that given the series of threat messages he had received and the events that followed, the said Umar Farouk might have been "a paid agent, playing out a script written by his paymasters".
He also debunked the claims by the Coalition for Stable Democracy that he and five other lawmakers were enemies of the Nigerian state and people, describing the allegations as spurious, unfounded and baseless.
"These highly vexatious, seditious and malicious leaflets bore the same names of some of my colleagues as contained in Umar Farouk's presentation at the Committee hearing. It is now obvious that this same Umar Farouk must have been behind the circulation of the vexatious leaflets; he even claimed to have produced some for me. It is clear enough that this Umar Farouk is a self-confessed professional blackmailer," he said.
On November 6, 2008, a leaflet signed by a group, the Coalition for Stable Democracy listed had Ogunewe and five other lawmakers as enemies of the Nigerian State and people.
The group accused them of conspiring to use the car purchase controversy to pull down the National Assembly.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 This Day. 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.
