Daily Independent (Lagos)
Otei Oham And Festus Owete
17 November 2008
Abuja — A member of the House of Representatives, Independence Ogunewe, has called for thorough investigation into the controversies surrounding the purchase of 380 vehicles for members.
Ogunewe is one of the five members of the House that were indicted for championing the sack of Dimeji Bankole as Speaker over alleged discrepancies in the purchase of the vehicles.
Lagos lawyer, Festus Keyamo, had in a letter to Bankole, accused the House leadership of fraudulently acquiring the cars without following due process and at inflated prices.
But in a statement in Abuja on Monday, Ogunewe denied involvement in the alleged scheme to nail the Speaker in the deal.
He, however, did not say whether he had confidence in the investigation currently being conducted by the House Committee on Ethics into the controversy.
The committee, chaired by Saleh Minjibir, is still busy collating testimonies from all the parties involved in the transaction.
Those who have testified, apart from Keyamo, are officials of Peugeot Automobile of Nigeria (PAN), National Assembly and a self-acclaimed human rights crusader, Umar Farouk.
Gbenga Oduwaiye (PDP, Ogun) and Festus Adegoke (PDP, Oyo) who were also accused by Farouk as part of the plot to remove Bankole, have since denied the allegation and threatened to sue Farouk for falsely claiming that they hired him to do the hatchet man's job for N1 million.
"During the Etteh saga, I took a principled stand despite the fact she appointed me the House Committee Chairman on Aviation, a position I held until the Committees were dissolved and I was re-assigned as the current Chairman of the House Committee on Co-operation and Integration in Africa.
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