Corruption Probes: Why Gbajabiamila Halted House Committee Sittings, Reps Reply PDP

The House of Representatives on Monday rejected a recent position taken by the Peoples Democratic Party, accusing the Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila, of halting ongoing corruption investigations by committees because he wanted to cover up All Progressives Congress officials exposed by the probes.

Rather, the House said what the speaker did was simply to allow the lawmakers proceed on their annual vacation as had been the tradition in all democracies where legislators yearly took a vacation to rest.

The House noted that the vacation did not in any way mean that the ongoing probes by the committees had altogether been called off, as alleged by the PDP.

The Majority Leader of the House, Alhassan Ado-Doguwa, in a lengthy response to the PDP’s allegation, explained that all the probes would continue upon resumption of the National Assembly from the annual recess on September 16.

He also claimed that a number of the corruption issues under investigation by the committees occurred while the PDP was in power between 1999 and 2015, expressing surprise that the same party was accusing the APC-led House of covering up corruption.

Ado-Doguwa stated further, “It will be of interest to the PDP, the investigations the House is currently undertaking, including the Chinese loans, cover the 16 years the PDP was in power and when most of the loans were obtained.  So, maybe they should be thanking the House leadership for covering up their misdeeds.

“Hence, making reference to the recent $500 billion China loan by the PDP spokesman, which has already been approved by the National Assembly through a transparent and formal request was either a deliberate misrepresentation of facts or an utter ignorance of the history.

“Therefore, it is pertinent to know that the government has already captured the recent loan in the 2020 Appropriation law and it should not be a subject of any controversy or query in the committee’s investigation process at least for now.  And as a matter of norm and procedure, the House can only wait until disbursements and utilisation commence before embarking on oversight implementation.

“On other investigations into government agencies, including Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), the Nigerian Social Insurance Trust (NSITF), the Review of the Nigerian Power Sector as well as all other allegations of corruption in government expenditure, Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDA’s), have not in any way been discontinued as alleged by the PDP, as all the pending investigations will continue as the House reconvenes.”

THE WHISTLER recalls that the PDP, through its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, had last week demanded the resignation of Gbajabiamila on the grounds that his decision to halt the committee proceedings was to shield APC government officials from being further exposed by the probes.

He wrote, “The party notes that such incursion into the activities of the committees is to quench the fight against corruption as well as to frustrate whistle blowers just because APC has become an ocean of corruption where the members are swimming…

“It is clear that the shutdown directive is targeted at frustrating revelations from ongoing investigations on the $500million foreign loan from China, particularly as it relates to the mortgaging of our nation’s sovereignty to China.

“This is in addition to the investigations into the humongous corruption in government agencies including the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) the N300billion unremitted revenue to the federation account as well as allegations of corruption in government earnings and the expenditure in Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDA’s) under the APC.

“It is therefore unfortunate that under the Gbajabiamila-led leadership, the basic responsibility of the House of Representatives, which is its oversight on the executive, has just been maimed through a forced holiday on the members of the respective committees and their chairmen.”

But, on Monday, the House leader reacted that the PDP’s position was proof that its hierarchy was not versed in legislative proceedings, hence the allegation the party made against Gbajabiamila was unnecessary.

He added, “It is ridiculous to discover that the PDP, supposedly the opposition party in the country, does not know the workings of the National Assembly, let alone knowing where the constitution or house procedures have been breached.  

“It is worthy of note also, that it has never been the practice or tradition of the House to continue with indoor committee engagements while on annual recess as it’s obtainable in the developed democracies like US, who are right now enjoying their summer recess, especially now that we are being faced with a global health emergency due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The PDP are always desperate in their typical nature because if they’ve have done their homework well, they’ll know that committees do not sit during our annual summer recess.

“It’s not only the legislative, the Judiciary is also on recess and apart from few courts that open for administrative purposes, all the courts are locked up and paused to continue cases including corruption cases only upon their resumption.”

Investigation by THE WHISTLER showed that apart from the need to observe their annual recess, many lawmakers were increasingly becoming worried that they might contract COVID-19 as a result of the daily gatherings by the committees to receive submissions.

One National Assembly official, speaking with the newspaper in Abuja, said, “It was difficult getting people to comply with the COVID -19 safety protocols at the venues of the sittings.

“A number of lawmakers fall within the elderly category. There was the issue of sharing equipment like electronic devices and documents.

“The risks were increasing everyday and it was the view of many members that the sessions should be suspended for now to resume fully again in September.”