Subsidy: Farouk Lawan Committee
Held Hostage
Tweet Tweet 3 Like
Thu, 12/04/2012 - 1:41am | EDEGBE
ODEMWINGIE, ADESUWA TSAN,
GLORIA EZEIRU, AHURAKA ISAH,
and GRACE AZUBUIKE Cover Stories
News
The failure of the House of Representatives
ad-hoc committee, which conducted an
expansive investigation into the management
of fuel subsidy, to submit its report weeks
after its chairman, Hon Farouk Lawan,
promised it would be released is because
the committee and the entire House of
Representatives are being held hostage by
powerful forces not to release the report
because of the damning revelations and
recommendations it contains, LEADERSHIP
gathered yesterday.
The House of Representatives had, January
8, in a special session arising from the
sudden hike of petrol price caused by the
withdrawal of subsidy by the federal
government, set up an ad-hoc committee
with a mandate to investigate the
management of funds expended on fuel
subsidy as well as why the payment took an
astronomical increase within one year.
But one month after the committee
completed the public hearing and despite
assurances by Lawan that the report would
be made public, powerful forces are said to
be working seriously to ensure that the
report does not get to the public.
Revelations by the committee indicate that
most of the companies which were involved
in shady deals in the Petroleum Support
Fund, PSF, and who were indicted in the
report are owned by political leaders who
played key roles in the emergence of the
present leadership of the country.
The committee had uncovered massive fraud
in the PSF, both on the side of government
officials who allegedly connived with
marketers to siphon money from the scheme
and administrators of the fund who spoke in
dissenting voices when questions were
raised about the procedure for participation
in the scheme and several others.
Giving an insight into the content of the
report, Hon. Lawan had said that all
companies who were found culpable of
fraud in the PSF would be recommended for
prosecution by the EFCC and the ICPC.
It was gathered that most of the brains
behind the companies are top brass in the
corridors of power who are now holding the
lawmakers hostage to ensure that the report
does no see the light of day.
Meanwhile, prominent lawyers Yusuf Ali
(SAN), Sebastian Hon (SAN), Fred Agbaje and
Wahab Shittu have asked Nigerians to invoke
the Freedom of Information Act to compel
the Farouk-led petroleum subsidy probe
committee to release its report or findings it
promised would be ready a couple of weeks
back.
The lawyers averred that it is not only the
committee that is held hostage by oil subsidy
cabals but that federal government has
appears to have been overpowered by the
oil subsidy cartel.
They insisted that the war against corruption
under the government of President
Goodluck Jonathan has ground to a halt in
the last six months for the singular reason to
avoid marching on the toes of these cartel
members in the country.
The lawyers who separately spoke to
LEADERSHIP cited the quashing of charges
preferred by the Economic and Financial
Crimes Commission against Halliburton, Hon
Ndidi Elumelu and Erastus Akingbola on the
grounds of non-diligent prosecution.
According to Sebastine Hon, “One of the
aspects of the Freedom of Information Act is
the right of every Nigerian to know how he
is being governed. I will call on the press to
invoke the FoI law to compel Farouk Lawan
and the National Assembly to tell Nigerians
what is holding the report back.”
“Fuel is almost the life wire of every Nigerian
because both the poor and rich are affected
directly by any forms of practice adversely
or otherwise that touches on its circulation
or price. This is why the probe panel is
keenly watched while every Nigerian is
eager to read the panel’s report to
determine how the subsidy surged from less
than N300 billion to N1.7 trillion.
With the FOI, the NASS can be compelled to
free itself from the hostage and release the
report.”
For his part, Agbaje stated: “It is not only
Farouk Lawan’s committee that is held
hostage. The whole federal government is
already held hostage by the oil subsidy
cabals.
The government of Jonathan has not shown
any zeal to prosecute the war against
corruption but rather has uncritically
embraced corruption with passion. There are
several cases of corruption oozing out in
leaps and bounds in the last six months that
smacks of any interest at all in the fight
against corruption.
“The quashing of corruption charges against
Halliburton, Hon. Ndidi Elumelu and lastly
Erastus Akingbola by courts of law attest to
the fact that Jonathan’s government is the
first among many that has wholly and openly
embraced corruption in Nigeria.”
Shittu said: “It would as well help us as a
country to avoid rationalizing by way of
speculation. Farouk asked for time to enable
him thoroughly carry out the investigation
and give an in-depth report on his findings.
All we require to do is to be patient and
allow him to do his job that would give the
nation an insight into what really happened.”
But the chairman of the House Committee
on media and public affairs, Zakari
Mohammed, has said the report would be
presented to the lower House upon
resumption from their scheduled Easter
break. The lower House spokesman had
earlier confirmed that there was intense
pressure from some quarters to jettison the
report.
Mohammed insisted that the subsidy probe
would not go the way of previous probe
panels embarked on without the release of
its report and that all legislative machinery
would be deployed to ensure that those
indicted are brought to book.
He said: “I want to also say that the
investigation has developed a life of its own.
You cannot kill it. It is living and it will
continue until we get to that logical
conclusion where people have been
indicted and they are also brought to book.”
SHARE THIS POST
49 Share on Faceb

Culled from www.leadership.ng/nga/articles/21807/2012/04/12/subsidy_farouk_lawan_committee_held_hostage.html

This is an attest to the fact that, President Goodluck Jonathan is the FATHER of modern day corruption in Nigeria. We (Masses) will subdue him by God's grace.

Gaddem it!

Let them release it on the net for us. We can start from there.

After somebody will come and tell us to stop being pessimistic about Nigeria.