Obasanjo’s govt promoted corruption — Reps

Written by This Day Friday, 06 August 2010

Members of the House of Representatives under the aegis of the Minority Caucus on Thursday accused the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo of promoting corruption.

They spoke against the backdrop of media reports on Thursday in which Obasanjo was credited as saying that the members of the House were corrupt.

Obasanjo, in the report, also said that members of the National Assembly padded budgets and in some cases, budgeted for ministries and agencies what they did not ask for.

He was also credited as saying that with the connivance of bureaucrats, such funds were usually withdrawn from budgets for projects that did not benefit the people.

But the leader of the Minority Caucus in the House, Alhaji Mohammed Ndume, described Obasanjo’s comments as unfair and uncharitable.

Arguing that the lawmakers would not have bothered if the former president had said that Nigerian politicians were corrupt, they said he lacked the moral standing to accuse them.

They accused Obasanjo’s government of doling out N50m to each member of the National Assembly to support his failed bid for a third term in office.

They also claimed that it was the Obasanjo administration that sold national assets such as Transcorp Hilton Hotel and Nigeria Telecommunications Limited to his cronies.

Speaking on behalf of the caucus at a news conference in Abuja, he said, “If Obasanjo had said that Nigerians or Nigerian politicians are corrupt, that would have been right but for him to just single out the National Assembly I think he is not being fair.

“Even if that is the case, the National Assembly has 80 per cent Peoples Democratic Party members in the Senate and in House of Representatives and Obasanjo is the father and grandfather of PDP.

“If that is true, then it means, if the children are corrupt, then the father and grandfather; you know what it means.”

“We all know the level of corruption in this country. It was during his eight-year rule that corruption moved from a low level to a higher level.

However, Ndume admitted that corruption was a criminal offence; but he gave reasons why politicians or some lawmakers could be found wanting.

On budget padding, he said, “Are we saying that the National Assembly is sterile when it comes to corruption? I won’t say that. But if you look at the nation’s budget which he is talking about, padding budgets and giving contracts out, yes, that is true.

“As a member representing my constituency, if the budget comes and there is nothing in my constituency for my people, I will definitely not support that budget without having something for my people; because what will I go back and tell my people?”

According to Ndume, the level of corruption in the National Assembly is less than the level in other arms of government.

Further, he explained, “If you look at Obasanjo in 1999 when he came out from prison to be president of this country, go and look at his accounts, go and look at his assets and his disposition, and then you will get the answer to who is corrupt; whether it’s the National Assembly or the whole country.

“Am not saying there is no corruption, but if you want to address the issue of corruption in this country and you say you choose to start with the National Assembly, so be it.”

On zoning, the caucus said it was surprised that an issue that was an internal affair of the PDP had become a national issue.

Ndume also scored the National Assembly low in performance.

He said, “The legislature has not done well in the last three years. We have not performed to the expectations of Nigerians.

“I don’t want to give any excuse for failure or non- performance, but the truth of it is that the legislature, just like the government, has not lived up to the expectations of Nigerians.”

Meanwhile, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other-Related Offences Commission has initiated action to investigate the allegations by Obasanjo against the lawmakers.

It added that it had started investigation into how members of the national and state assemblies utilised funds released to them for constituency projects.

The chairman of the commission, Justice Emmanuel Ayoola (retd.), made this known at the sixth edition of ICPC “Chairman’s Guest Forum,” in Abuja on Thursday.

A statement by the ICPC’s Resident Consultant, Media and Events, Mr. Folu Olamiti, quoted the chairman as having said that the anti-graft agency would use Obasanjo’s allegation to probe the allowances of the lawmakers.

Ayoola said, “We will commence investigation on the legal propriety of the size of the allowances. We want to know whether any criminal offence has been committed on the size of the allowances.

“If we do not find anything (unconstitutional), we will report and if we find something, we will tell the world what we have found.”