EFCC Chairman, Ibrahim Lamorde
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.
A member of the committee, who spoke on
condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak on the
issue, explained to one of our correspondents that a motion was
sponsored on financial crimes earlier in the month, seeking, among
others, the invitation of Lamorde to appear before the Senate.
The senator said that one of the prayers
in the motion as it specifically affected Lamorde’s invitation was
rejected by the majority of the senators during plenary and that the
Senate President, Bukola Saraki, had no option but to rule it out.
He said, “We were however surprised that
the probe was channelled through the back door in form of a petition.
We had discussed it in our meeting and some of us believe that we should
allow the petitioner to seek redress in a court of law.
“If the chairman (of the ethics
committee) still decides to go ahead with the invitation of the EFCC
chairman, we will have no choice but to write our own minority report at
the end of the exercise because we believe it is an issue that could be
settled in court.”
But the Chairman of the Senate Ethics
Committee, Senator Samuel Anyanwu, told one of our correspondents on the
telephone on Monday that there was no disagreement among the committee
members and that the probe would go on as scheduled.
He said, “There is no confusion
anywhere, we are inviting the EFCC chairman and the man that wrote a
petition against him. This is different from the decision taken on the
floor of the Senate over a motion.
“Our committee is intact and there is no
dissenting voice, we will go ahead with the probe on Wednesday by the
grace of God. We have the mandate of Nigerians to discharge our lawful
functions as lawmakers; hence we will treat the petition on its merit.”
Also, when contacted, the Senate
spokesperson, Dino Melaye, said he was not aware of the disagreement
among members of the committee over Lamorde and that the probe had
nothing to do with the rejection of an earlier prayer in a motion
seeking his invitation by the Senate.
Melaye said, “The rule of the Senate
permits its Committee on Ethics and Public Petitions to invite anybody
indicted in a petition. It has nothing to do with any resolution of the
entire house.
“I am aware that the committee will
proceed with the invitation of the EFCC boss as scheduled on Wednesday. A
formal letter had been sent to him in that regard.”
The offences alleged against Larmode
were said to have been committed when he was the Director of Operations
of the EFCC between 2003 and 2007, as well as an acting Chairman of the
commission between June 2007 and May 2008.
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