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Corruption: Clear yourself, Obasanjo
- Plateau Speaker
Soji Oyinlola & Onoja Audu
The Speaker of the
Plateau State House of
Assembly, Mr. Simon Lalong, has asked President Olusegun Obasanjo to first
clear himself of allegations of financial impropriety against him, if the
president’s much trumpeted anti-corruption crusade must be taken seriously.
He also said the
House would not impeach Governor Dariye despite his probe by the Economic and
Financial Crimes commission (EFCC).
Lalong who spoke
with Saturday Independent in Jos recalled that in the first term of
the Obasanjo administration, the House of Representatives under Ghali Umar
Na’Abba accused the president of financial impropriety and threatened to
impeach him but to date, Obasanjo had not responded to it.
The Speaker, in an
apparent reaction to the president’s statement in a recent Radio Nigeria
special programme - The
President Explains - in which Obasanjo accused the Plateau legislature of
shielding Governor Joshua Dariye from prosecution over alleged financial
misdeeds, said if the president must be taken serious in the anti-corruption
crusade, he should immediately respond to the allegation made against him by
the last Assembly.
He said the Plateau
State House of Assembly was not answerable to the president and as such would
not do the bidding of the president.
Lalong who spoke
shortly before he led other 23 members of the State Assembly on tour of 17
local government areas in the ttate said Obasanjo could only deal with the
National Assembly as the constitution conferred that on him.
The Speaker who was
angry with Obasanjo over his move to whip up sentiments and move the people of
Plateau State against their legislators, said any action the lawmakers would
take against Dariye should not be by intimidation or external influence.
According to the
Speaker, the House decided not to rush into the matter until it got clearance
from the British government to ascertain whether it was the British authority
that wrote a petition against the Plateau governor to the federal government.
He said that the
House was stunned to discover that it was not the British authority that was
involved in the investigation on financial crime against Dariye but the London
Metropolitan Police.
The Speaker stated
that since the British government was not answerable to the London Metropolitan
Police, it was therefore wrong to expect Dariye, a governor from the sovereign
state of Nigeria to be interrogated by the London police authority.
Lalong said that in law, the Metropolitan Police
had no right to interrogate a governor of another sovereign state and queried
the rationale behind Dariye’s travails.
The Speaker regretted that Nigerian leaders
where in the habit of accusing others of wrong doings when they themselves had
skeletons in their cupboard.
He also noted that
if there was an allegation by the Code of Conduct Bureau against any public
officer, it should not be selective, saying “let Bureau publish all
assets of public officers, that way Nigerians will know who are corrupt and are
causing problems to Nigeria and those making the entire world to believe
we’re the most corrupt country.”
Lalong pointed out
that though the federal government came up with evidences of corruption against
Dariye it was not enough for the legislators to commence impeachment process
against him, as he had not been convicted.
On the alleged
refusal by the House of Assembly to work in tandem with President Obasanjo,
Lalong said the House had nothing against the president but that the manner of
approach to issues in Plateau State made the House to thread cautiously.
Lalong further
pointed out that the letter, which the federal government was circulating to
the public, was written on November 10, when the Assembly was under suspension.
He also said the House had no grudge against the federal government decision to
probe, provided that the intention to carry out such investigation was pursued
logically.
Lalong further said
the urge by the federal government for the Plateau Assembly to impeach Dariye
was against the constitution as according to him, any matter that is pending in
the law court, is not allowed to be discussed on the floor of the assembly.
He accused president Obasanjo of
leaking the contents of a letter meant for the assembly to members of the
public to elicit sympathy and the same time, stampeding the assembly to move
against Dariye.
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