Senate denies taking bribe
By Emmanuel Ogala
January 25, 2010 03:10AM


The Senate, at the weekend, denied claims that some senators have been bribed with N1.2 billion to foil attempts by their colleagues to force President Umaru Yar’Adua to transmit powers to the Vice President.

A national daily had reported on Sunday that some senators have been lobbied by some presidential aides to frustrate the efforts of other senators who are described as “anti-Yar’Adua”.

The alleged anti-Yar’Adua senators were said to be sponsoring a motion which will force Mr. Yar’Adua to relinquish power pending his recovery from what his physicians described as acute pericarditis.

“This is false, and the figments of the fertile minds of some fifth columnists who think that by discrediting the National Assembly, they will have a field day in the polity,” Ayogu Eze, the senate’s spokesperson said on Sunday.

“The Senate cannot be compromised. Besides, there is no issue to contemplate settling anybody, outside the few individuals who have become accustomed to the culture of being settled on every issue.

“The Senate, being a responsible institution, is and will always be guided by the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. I am aware that our constitution has guaranteed certain freedoms, including the information to hold and impart information. But in exercise of these freedoms, we must have respect for other people’s freedom.

“I challenge therefore anybody with information about distribution of money to members of the National Assembly to name the persons and the circumstances where this money exchanged hands, or forever remain silent.

“I wish to warn all stakeholders not to fall for this cheap tactics which could be another way of inducing some people to think in the direction of corrupting the system.”

On Tuesday, the Senate will meet to discuss the President’s health after the second attempt to do so failed last week. The first motion, which was sponsored by the Deputy Senate president, Ike Ekweremadu, was read on the floor of the senate earlier in the month. But his prayers, for the senate to send a delegation to visit the president to Saudi Arabia, was reduced to an invitation of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) to avail senators of the president’s health status.

Subsequent motions by a group of ‘anti-Yar’Adua senators’ was muffled by the senate leadership who said irate senators should wait till after the briefing, which the senate got from the SGF on Thursday last week.

On Tuesday, “Every member shall be entitled to his or her opinion at the end of which we shall base our action on the aggregate view of all senators,” Mr. Eze said.

He, however, said that senators shall be guided by the constitution in whatever their deliberations and decision.

“I urge Nigerians to be patient and shun self-seeking people who will always exploit every situation for their selfish gains. I have no doubt that some of the views in the papers were sponsored to cause panic and thereby stampede some people to seek out people for settlement,” Mr. Eze said.

http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/News/National/5516971-146/senate_denies_taking_bribe__.csp

I blv more will come out soon and we will be able to know how bad things actually are.
1.2B naira, that they could have used for the development of Nigeria.

That is the official pronouncement. The truth is behind the doors of the senate building and APO quarters.