The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on Monday expressed concerns that the House of Representatives had become enmeshed in “scandals upon scandals” since 1999.



The chairman of the commission, Mrs. Farida Waziri, said that it was worrisome that the House had failed to meet the aspirations of the people, who voted its members to protect their interests.



“I think most Nigerians have been very concerned because there have been scandals upon scandals in that House. And that is the bastion of democracy and the hope of the common man,” she said.



She spoke when a group of lawmakers, Progressive-Minded Legislators, submitted a petition to the anti-graft agency at its headquarters in Abuja.



The group, which is led by Mr. Dino Melaye, has been calling for the resignation of the Speaker of the House, Mr. Dimeji Bankole, over alleged corrupt practices.



One of the demands contained in the petition is for the EFCC to investigate how Bankole and the Body of Principal Officers allegedly spent N9bn out of the N11bn budgeted as the capital vote of the House between 2008 and 2009.



Waziri, while receiving the document from the group, recalled that from the certificate forgery involving a former speaker, Alhaji Salisu Buhari in 1999, to the latest N9bn allegation, it had been “scandals upon scandals.”



She stated that the commission would commence investigation into the matter immediately.



She said, ”We have to salvage our nation. For the National Assembly, the House of Representatives, in particular, I have been worried.



”All the citizens who trusted you and voted you into that House feel that you are there to protect their interests.



“But when we have issues all the time starting from the era of Buhari, you remember the certificate forgery scam, and now the car scam.



“I mean it is something that is worrisome. And I think with this step you have taken and the action that will follow, it is obvious that there is need to sanitise the House of Representatives and make it like any other House anywhere in the World.”



She said that on the strength of newspaper publications of the alleged scam, the EFCC had commenced the process of setting up a committee of “diligent, loyal and hard-working” officers to look into the matter.



Waziri said, “The law, as we say, is no respecter of person. Nobody is above the laws of the land; everybody is equal before the law. And this is what we have been preaching and this is what we have been trying to do.



“When you talk of the body of principal officers, we will swing into action and you will see what we are doing. I am particularly happy when people discover that something is wrong, economic crimes-wise, and they take it upon themselves to expose and to bring it to our attention.



“We have been crying out loud that fighting corruption and economic crimes is not the exclusive preserve of the EFCC and Independent Corrupt Practices and Other- Related Offences Commission. It is everybody’s fight and it is every Nigerian’s fight.



“This is our country as you stated, we don’t have any other country; we have just Nigeria. There is no place like home. Even those of you that have gone out, you can compare and see that home is home and that there is no place like home.



“We are pained when our country is being run down as a result of massive corruption. I am in a position to say this because as I sit here, I know what goes on and I feel so much pain.”



She explained that other unresolved scandals such as Siemens, Halliburton and Wilbros had painted the country in bad light.



Melaye had told the EFCC chairman that contrary to the ”blackmail,” the PML was out to sanitise the House by insisting that its affairs should be conducted transparently.



He said, ”If we have oversight functions over MDAs (ministries, agencies and departments), then we need to do same for ourselves.



”Some of us have decided that in the face of tyranny, in the face of very stiff opposition, we have taken the battle line to build a new Nigeria where justice, equity and democratic norms will be the order of the day.”



He accused a 10-member Body of Principal Officers of the House led by Bankole of alleged contract inflation, saying that the speaker had been living an ostentatious lifestyle.



He recalled how his past motions on the floor of the House led to the revocation of the sale of Delta Steel, the imposition of fine on Multi-choice and the cancellation of the N65bn runway contract at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport, Abuja.



The lawmaker from Kogi State said that recent developments in the House portrayed the country as an entity suffering from “dreadful congenital abnormality.”



He said, “He who seeks equity must come with clean hands. If the House is questioning Ministries, Departments and Agencies through oversight functions, we need to oversight (sic) ourselves so that the public can have confidence in us.



“Out of the N11bn that was allocated to the House in 2008/2009 budgets for capital projects, N2bn was returned to the treasury. But we are asking the House officers to account for how they spent N9bn.



“We have documents to prove that some items approved by the Body of Principal officers, of whom the Speaker is the chairman, were inflated.



“We are ready to lay down our lives for this. We fought for this democracy. We cannot sit here and watch the National Assembly corrupted. We will do everything to protect this democracy. Let me make it clear that we are not fighting Bankole, what we are fighting is corruption.”



Melaye was in company with Messrs Anass Abbah, Bitrus Kaze, Independence Ogunnewe, Austin Nwachukwu and Solomon Ahwinahwi.



Reacting to the comments of the EFCC boss, the House through its spokesman, Mr. Eseme Eyiboh, said that it welcomed the commission‘s interest in the crisis in the House.



“The House of Representatives appreciates the interest of the EFFC chairman in requesting the House to explore available avenues to collaborate with it to thin down avenues of graft,” Eyiboh said in a statement.



He added, ”It is on record that the present House is known for its vigour and commitment to legislative engagements premised on transparency and rule of law.



”These avenues are exercised in our rules‘ book and through various committees. We, therefore, request all agencies of government to avail themselves of this synergy with the House.”



As at 9.31pm on Monday, Bankole, a lawmaker from Ogun State, was meeting with the South-West caucus in the House. It was learnt that the meeting’s agenda was on the ongoing crisis in the House which would resume today after a two week recess.

http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art20100622431846

Whatever

Whatever

. . . and EFCC is home of . . .

.

efcc in nigeria right now is as corrupt as the nigerian police.

the pot calling the kettle black

Yeah, house is scandal n stuff but what is Wazero and her crew going to do about it?
Abeg joor!

yet they are better than the house of assembly(our so-called senators).
the major problem of the house of rep is that they are not matured enough in the sharing of their loots while our senators are very very matured as to know who gets what in every loot.
the problem in the house of rep is nothing but sharing method. that is, who gets what and how?
the looting is not the problem but the sharing of the looting.

She knows all these and yet NO ARREST . . . .

A case of demon casting away demon.I wonder what is going to save nigeria with the present system in charge?

redsun:

A case of demon casting away demon.I wonder what is going to save nigeria with the present system in charge?

Seems like nothing . . . cos with this kinda mind and brain, Nigeria is in for a long haul

efcc= toothless bulldog  all talk and no action

Probe them all, and if anybody is found to have enriched himself corruptly, let him not not just refund the money, but also be sentenced.

firebrand:

Probe them all, and if anybody is found to have enriched himself corruptly, let him not not just refund the money, but also be sentenced.  

You make me laff in Japanese . . . .

I have never seen people that hate themselves so much like nigerias.There could be a psychiatric term for the state of mind of average nigerian role models,some kind of collective,communal and inherent melancholy of self destruction.

^^^ lol

Nah today, pot calling keetle black. OLE [img]http://hisssssssssssssssssssssssssssss[/img][img][/img]

Probe them all, and if anybody is found to have enriched himself corruptly, let him not not just refund the money, but also be sentenced

Pls poster who probe who? EFCC, Bankole, Melaye or Mark? How can a thief be calling thief a thief and beside EFFC are no longer relevant in the fight against corruption so who will probe them?

Nigeria dont simply  have any House of whatever they call themseves anywhere? So lets stop disrurbing ourselves about these people. They are bunch of aliens in our midst as per EFCC they are no longer relevant.

When i see response like this from pepple it makes me feel bad. What will this woman do to gain respect from people? You know it is easy to sit down in your house and type what you like but when you are in the system then you know it's a different ball game. Let's cut the woman some slack afterall what did the other person do apart from doing the bidding of his master and making noise. Which high profile person could he send to jail except that person was not in the good books of some persons. But this woman has been able to send a very high profile politician to jail, the same person that was acquited during the time of the last person in charge of efcc, pls. if you don't have any thing constructive pls. spare your system. Why don't we blame the judiciary from stalling cases or do we prefer her to do the right thing illegally, two wrongs don't make a right. Lets encourage her abeg. Am out.

hobat4cash:

When i see response like this from pepple it makes me feel bad. What will this woman do to gain respect from people? You know it is easy to sit down in your house and type what you like but when you are in the system then you know it's a different ball game. Let's cut the woman some slack afterall what did the other person do apart from doing the bidding of his master and making noise. Which high profile person could he send to jail except that person was not in the good books of some persons. But this woman has been able to send a very high profile politician to jail, the same person that was acquited during the time of the last person in charge of efcc, pls. if you don't have any thing constructive pls. spare your system. Why don't we blame the judiciary from stalling cases or do we prefer her to do the right thing illegally, two wrongs don't make a right. Lets encourage her abeg. Am out.

Common . . . .
So she knows that the HOA is full of thieves and yet she is doing nothing about it as the head of EFCC, and yet you think she deserves the respect?

Ashawo lost, Thief they find her

why are u ppl always criticising, lets wait and see if the efcc will do some thing if they dont will u ppl go on the streets and protestt and stop typing and complaining

So? why is she telling us what we already know?

Tolulop001:

So? why is she telling us what we already know?

Because when Nigerians hear a lie over and over and over again, they accept it as truth. even nairalanders are fond of accepting lies hook line and sinker. so why not tell us again

The house of REPRESENTA THIEVES: Sometime i wonder why many Nigeria express disappointment whenever there 's a GLADIATORIA COMBAT in the national ASSembly; what else do they expect from REPRESENTA THIEVES whose purpose of gathering is to share the loots. You can imagine what will happen if the CAPON of the THIEVES try to out smart the others