N1tn petition: Senate rumbles, splits over Lamorde probe
AUGUST 25, 2015 : NIYI ODEBODE AND SUNDAY ABORISADE
A fresh crisis looms in the Senate.
Members on Monday appeared divided over the planned probe of the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ibrahim Lamorde, over alleged diversion of stolen funds recovered from looters.
While the Senate leadership said the probe would proceed as scheduled on Wednesday (tomorrow), members of the Peoples Democratic Party in the upper federal legislative chamber kicked against the probe.
The EFCC boss, according to a petition before the Senate, has been accused of diverting N1tn said to have been recovered from a former Governor of Bayelsa State, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha; and a former Inspector-General of Police, Tafa Balogun.
The petitioner, Dr. George Uboh, who is the Chief Executive Officer of Panic Alert Security Systems, had petitioned the Senate through the senator representing his Delta North constituency, Peter Nwaoboshi, alleging that Lamorde, in connivance with other EFCC officials, short-changed the Federal Government in the remittance of funds and properties recovered from Alamieyeseigha and Balogun.
The probe of the EFCC boss by the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions has been scheduled to begin on Wednesday (tomorrow).
After an earlier arguments over the propriety of the investigation by the Senate, the PDP senators later in a statement signed by the Senate Minority Leader, Godswill Akpabio; his deputy, Emmanuel Bwacha; Minority Whip, Philip Aduda; and his deputy, Biodun Olujimi, rejected the planned probe.
The PDP senators’ statement, issued late on Monday, partly read, “It has come to the notice of the PDP leadership in the Senate that the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions would begin a public hearing on Wednesday, August 26, 2015 and the committee has invited the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to appear before it.
“The PDP leadership in the Senate is not against any committee of the Senate performing its oversight duties and or functions but we feel that this is not the appropriate time to embark on the most important assignment, particularly since the same action was mooted and had failed at previous plenary session.
“We therefore urge the committee to suspend its public hearing on this particular matter until further notice.
“The PDP senate leadership reassures the Nigerian public of its support for the war against corruption by the Federal Government of Nigeria but hastens to add that such fight against corruption should be total and not selective.
“Nigerians need peace at this period of economic challenges precipitated by the falling of oil prices and actions that will overheat the polity and generate unnecessary friction between the executive and the legislature should be avoided.”
Our correspondent learnt that there had been a heated argument among senators earlier on Monday with the senior lawmakers divided on the scheduled investigation of Uboh’s petition against Lamorde.
Some members of the committee to probe the EFCC boss were said to have disagreed sharply over the investigation, though the anti-graft commission released a statement to say that the commission under Lamorde feared no probe.
The commission, in a statement by its spokesperson, Wilson Uwujaren, described Uboh’s petition as mischievous and intended to smear Lamorde.
The statement read in part, “The EFCC as an agency that is founded on transparency is not afraid of any ‘probe’ or request for information regarding its activities by individuals, groups or organs of government; so far as such requests followed due process of law.
“Even if the EFCC had not returned a kobo of recovered assets in its 12 years existence in addition to the yearly appropriated funds from the Federation Account, it will be nowhere near a trillion naira.
“It (the petition) was sent, not to the Senate but to a member, Senate Peter Nwaoboshi, a first-term senator from Delta North.
“Under the Senate rules, petitions meant for consideration by the red chamber are sent to the Senate, not to a member of the Senate.
“Also, petitions meant for the Senate are tabled at the plenary, before they are referred to the relevant committees for further consideration. In this instance, the Senate has been on recess and there is no evidence that the so-called petition was considered at plenary and referred to any committee.”
According to the commission, the EFCC under Lamorde did not need the prompting of anyone when it commissioned KPMG, an audit firm, to carry out comprehensive audit of exhibits and forfeited assets of the Commission from 2003 to date.
It said that the report of the audit would be made public once it is ready.
The statement added, “Were the Commission to be jittery about its records, it would not have embarked on such audit.
“The EFCC however warns that those who peddle false information with the intent to mislead should be reminded that there is a subsisting law on false information and the consequence for violation is grave.”
Attempts to speak with Akpabio, as of the time of filing this report, were futile as calls made to his mobile phones did not connect while the text message sent to him was also not acknowledged.
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