Probe Obasanjo’s N6.4bn library donations –Atiku




The Atiku Abubakar Campaign Organisation (AACO) has thrown a challenge to the Code of Conduct Tribunal, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Miscellaneous Offences Commission (ICPC): they should brief the nation on the progress they have individually made so far into the investigation of the petition sent to them more than a year ago on the propriety or otherwise of President Olusegun Obasanjo’s N6.4bn presidential library donations. The fund raising was launched by the president for a N7bn library in Abeokuta on Saturday, May 14, 2005.In a statement sent out by his campaign organisation, Atiku said about N6.4bn was raised at the ceremony that saw the captains of industry, telecom moguls, ministers, bankers, state governors, the NNPC, the NPA falling over themselves to please the president by supporting the library project with public funds. The petition was sent to the anti-corruption bodies in June 2005, by Lagos lawyer and human rights activist Chief Gani Fawehinmi. But since then, nothing has been heard on the progress of their investigations. This, said the AACO, would appear to be a stark contrast to the “lightning speed” with which the speculations and conjectures of acts of impropriety alleged to have been committed by Vice President Atiku are being treated and dispensed with.

Said AACO: “For instance, the Code of Conduct Tribunal received the allegations put together by Nuhu Ribadu and the so-called Attoney-General Ojo’s ‘administrative panel’ on September 22, 2006, but, to the amazement of all, it took the tribunal no more than seven days to complete all processes and the procedures and it served the vice president all his papers for the summons and appointed October the 10th, as the date for the commencement of the case against Atiku.
“For a panel that has, in the last seven years, not successfully tried one high-profile case, including those from the predecessor administration, the speed of the Atiku prosecution will definitely make it a feat worthy of the Guinness Book of Records.”

Chief Fawehinmi had petitioned the anti-corruption bodies, questioning the legal and moral correctness of a sitting president’s open solicitation for donations to a private project, donations that shockingly came from beneficiaries of the government’s policies in the oil and gas sector.

“Donations also came from beneficiaries of concessions and waivers issued by government to importers of certain goods, while the 36 states of the federation were each committed to N10m donation, which is believed to have come off their allocations,” AACO stated. “Government-owned Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) also made a dollar-denominated donation, which its managers said had been put together by ‘stakeholders’ in the shipping industry. Chief Fawehinmi, it is understood, is also in court pursuing the matter.”

OLD news man

@flexo6, obj is not a saint after all?

As Senate President Charges C’tee to Invite Obj, Atiku at Will, Nnamani: Senate’ll Sanitise Presidency
From Sufuyan Ojeifo in Abuja, 10.05.2006


President of the Senate, Chief Ken Nnamani, yesterday indicated the commitment of the Senate to cleanse the Presidency, saying the legislative chamber would protect and reposition the executive by ridding it of “cobwebs of mistrust, mischief and scandal.”
Nnamani spoke at the inauguration of the 13-member Ad-Hoc Committee set up by the Senate to undertake an independent probe of the activities of the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF).
He charged the committee, under the Chairmanship of Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba (SAN), to exercise the full complement of legislative power in conducting the investigation, adding that it should not hesitate to invite any person whose testimony is required while examining every document that could guide it to the truth.
He said that the committee should feel free to invite either the President or the Vice President at any time, adding that “they are free to appear with any person or a group of persons that can help them make their case. So, you are on your own and if you need any further clarifications, feel free to consult or contact the Senate leadership.”
Nnamani, in his speech entitled: “Truth, Justice and fairness Will Save Our Democracy,” said that it was no longer a secret that the nation’s democracy was under threat by “a moral credibility problem,” adding that the Nigerian people were looking upon the Senate to rise “to the challenges of statesmanship and conduct a thorough, fair and just investigation of the activities of the PTDF and determine who did what and why.”
At the solemn gathering comprising no fewer than 40 Senators, the Senate president said: “Democratic governance is a trust which binds the citizens and their leaders in an unbroken chain of mutuality and dependence (and) the citizens expect candour and good faith from the leaders.
“The leaders on their part express their obligation to serve the people’s interests at all time. When this social contract is broken or stressed, the foundations of legitimacy of the state tremble (and) at such period, the society needs to undergo a restoration of balance and truth is what restores the balance of societal harmony.”
Nnamani said further: “I inaugurate with a sense of history this special committee of the Senate set up to comprehensively investigate the activities of the PTDF in the light of the accusation of gross misconduct leveled against the Vice President and his rebuttal and cross accusation against the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“These accusations have the capacity to diminish the moral credibility of the Presidency. The Presidency is not an individual. It is an institution. It is an institution that symbolizes the strength and dignity of the Nigerian people (and) we cannot allow this institution to be degraded and demystified”.
He said in constituting the committee, the Senate acted in the best traditions of statesmanship, adding that it carried the burden of history to ensure that the Presidency was repositioned in the eyes of Nigerians.
“We carry a burden to get to the roots of the allegations of misconduct and corruption in order to clear the debris and let the light of truth shine from the hallowed chambers of presidential power,” he added.
The Senate president said that he was constrained to remind his colleagues that every Nigerian citizen trusted that the Senate would shun any possible pecuniary considerations and other self-serving inducements in a bid to dig deep for the truth.
According to him, “Every Nigerian citizen places faith in this committee to separate truth from falsehood and the innocent from the guilty (and) I need not remind members of the Committee of its grave responsibility and the determination of the Senate to execute its constitutional responsibility with dignity, justice and equity.
“We have set a high mark of discipline and patriotism in similar situations of constitutional crisis. The Nigerian people now expect honour, dignity, truth and courage from us. We cannot fail the people at this critical moment and we cannot fail Nigeria at this period of despair.
“I charge the Committee to exercise the full complement of legislative power in conducting the investigation. It should not hesitate to invite any person whose testimony is required and it should examine every document that could guide it to the truth.
“It should not close its eyes to uncomfortable and inconvenient truths. It should open every process to strictest scrutiny and as much as it is possible, the committee should conduct public (open) hearing to reassure Nigerians that there is no cover-up.
“We will make sure that every member of the committee is free of interest and influence that may compromise the integrity and courage of the committee”.
Nnamani said that as elected representatives of the people, it was the historical duty of the Senate to save the Presidency from further embarrassment as “the Presidency is a national institution that we must protect irrespective of our view about the present occupants of the office”.
He urged the committee to act courageously and truthfully in its probe the PDTF affairs. The committee was given four weeks within which to report its findings to the Senate.
Chairman of the AD-Hoc Committee, Senator Ndoma-Egba, said that the committee was conscious of the enormity of work and the urgency attached to its assignment in view of the issues involved.
He said, “The committee is also mindful of the emotions and interest the matter has generated since it became public knowledge”, adding “We therefore wish to pledge that the committee will carry out this assignment dispassionately, in accordance with the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, extant laws and known principles of natural justice and good conscience for the ultimate good of our country”.
He said it was pertinent to state firmly that the committee would concern itself with facts and the substance of the matter, and not “the inclinations or tendencies in the discharge of this crucial constitutional responsibility”.
“The committee assures Mr. President of the Senate and our distinguished colleagues that it will justify the expectations of Nigerians and the confidence reposed in it by the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria”, he further stated.
Prior to the inauguration of the committee in plenary, the Senate President had announced the withdrawal of a member, Senator David Brigidi from Bayelsa State, from the committee on account of “pecuniary interest.”
Nnamani had said that senators who had contacts with the PTDF in the past would not participate in the activities of the committee probing it, adding, “as a result of that, we are withdrawing Senator David Brigidi because as one-time Chairman of the Petroleum Committee and Chairman of the Petroleum (Down Stream), he had contacts with the Fund during oversight functions.”
“Therefore, in order to avoid conflict of interests, he has been replaced with Senator Rufus Inatimi Spiff,” the Senate president stated.
Meanwhile, the committee has launched into a series of meetings to perfect its procedures for the investigation. THISDAY gathered that it held a pre-inaugural meeting Tuesday where it fashioned out and agreed on a code of conduct that would guide members during the period of the investigation.
The committee, it was learnt, decided at its first post-inaugural meeting yesterday to send letters of invitation to all those that would be required to appear before it to make presentations and give testimonies.
Members of the Committee include Nuhu Aliyu (Niger) and Tunde Ogbeha (Kogi) from North-Central; Victor Oyofo (Edo) and David Brigidi (Bayelsa) from South-South; Eze Darlington Ajoku (Imo) and Julius Ucha (Ebonyi) from Southeast; Felix Ogunwale (Osun) and Titus Olupitan (Ondo) from Southwest; Isaiah Balat (Kaduna) and Rufai Hanga (Kano) from Northwest; and Mohammed Abba Aji (Borno) and Tawa Umbi Wada (Gombe).