A Catalogue Of Duplicity In The Hallowed ChambersIn The Beginning Was Corruption'SINCE the return of democracy in 1999, the National Assembly has become synonymous with allegations of corruption, and rightly or wrongly, several lawmakers have paid dearly for it. In some instances, lives had been involved.Former president of the Senate, the late Dr. Chuba Okadigbo, was the first legislator to openly allege that businesses in the National Assembly in their era were characterised by bribery. He contested for the office with the late Evan Enwerem in 1999 but lost to the latter.Okadigbo, in a chat with some journalists after the contest, alleged that he lost to 'Ghana-Must-Go' (bribery) and not Enwerem as a person. He alleged that the presidency, under Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, gave out a lot of money to senators and influenced them to vote for Enwerem.'It was a very busy night at the NICON HILTON HOTEL (Abuja) where the senators were lodged,' he said. 'Throughout the previous night, I saw many Ghana-Must-Go bags loaded with money and being rolled on the floor of the hotel. It was the money that was used to rob me of the senate presidency.'When Enwerem was removed over alleged scandal, it was Okadigbo's turn to take the heat. In year 2000, it was alleged that the leadership of the Senate under him (Okadigbo) used the sum of N75m to buy rams for Sallah celebration.The chamber raised a panel, which discovered that apart from anticipatory approval given for the award of some contracts, due process was not followed in the handling of some of the contracts. The overall consequence was the removal of Okadigbo as Senate President, despite the historic march to the chamber by members of the House of Representatives, led by its Speaker, Umar Ghali Na'Abba, to show camaraderie with Okadigbo.Former member of the House of Reps, Nicholas Ukachuwku, was also alleged to have inflated the contract for electrification of the major road from the Arcade at the Federal Secretariat, in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), to the National Assembly complex. He was later cleared. Curiously, that is part of the trouble: the institution normally begins a probe of itself and most times, clearance comes from the same platform.Still in the Senate, between 2003 and 2007, allegations of graft were made, one of them by former minister of the FCT, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, that former deputy Senatepresident, Ibrahim Mantu, collected N55m, on behalf ofsenators, to clear him el-Rufai, for the ministerial appointment.In the life of that same Senate, former president Obasanjo had to resort to a nationwide broadcast over allegation that some senators and members of the House were involved in some form of graft.Obasanjo said that the affected lawmakers demanded and received a bribe of N55m to pass or increase the proposals in the 2004 appropriation. He explained that his action was to underscore the seriousness with which his administration was dealing with the issue of corruption.'It is with a heavy heart that I have to address the nation today,' Obasanjo said. 'As you know, the issue of transparency, accountability and eradication of corruption assumed a central place in the policies and programmes of this administration from its inception.'The fight against corruption is meant to be observed within the three arms of government, the Executive, Judiciary and Legislature, because corruption will not disappear in our national life if the measures adopted in the fight are designed for the Executive arm or within the Judiciary alone while the Legislative arm wallows in corruption.'In addition, our fight against corruption will be meaningless if it is concentrated within the federal tier of government while the states and local governments wallow in corruption; neither would the battle against corruption be won if it is concentrated within the public sector while the private sector, the Fourth Estate of the realm, and civil society wallow in corruption.'The former president continued: The following facts have now been established in the investigation report:' That the Minister of Education invited his acting Permanent Secretary and some Directors to collect money from votes under their control to bribe some members of the National Assembly so that they can ensure that their budget will not be reduced, in fact, in order that the budget for the ministry submitted by the Executive may be increased;' That those Directors produced from the votes under their control the sum of N35 million while an additional loan of N20 million was taken from the National Universities Commission (NUC) to pay a total bribe of N55 million, which was collected by the Senate President, Adolphus Wabara; Senator John Azuta Mbata, Chairman, Senate Appropriation Committee; Senator Ibrahim Abdulazeez, Chairman Senate Committee on Education; Senator (Dr.) Chris Adighije, Senator Badamasi Maccido, Senator Emmanuel Okpede, and a member of the Federal House of Representatives, Honourable (Dr.) Shehu Matazu, who is Chairman of the House Committee on Education.'On my brief return on Saturday, the 19th of March 2005, an Interim Oral Report of the investigation into the allegations was made to me while the investigation continued. I insisted that the N55 million be recovered from those who received it. By the time I returned on Monday from Namibia, the money had been recovered through the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) brought in by Senator (Dr.) Chris Adighije, and it will be kept and used as exhibit. A written report confirming the oral report has now been submitted to me.'Obasanjo Declared: 'But what has now happened must make us all to be extra cautious in the realisation that when some members of the National Assembly are inviting people to question them on what they have done or are doing, or to discuss or defend their budgets or investigate what may not be their business, no one should fall for the antics of using that guise to engage in acts of bribery and corruption.'Contractors have also alleged such acts on the part of members of the Senate and the House in the past but such contractors were scared to substantiate their allegations. There have also been allegations against some members of the National Assembly, who directly or indirectly make demands from ministries and parastatals in the performance of their oversight functions. Equally, allegations have been widespread about demands from members of the National Assembly during political appointment confirmation exercises as well as during the on-going N25 billion equity requirement on banks.'IN the House of the Representatives under Na'Abba, some members of the chamber had cause to tender the sum of N4m allegedly offered them by the executive arm of government, to remove Na'Abba as speaker. The money was kept in abank until the last week of the life of that House when it was returned to government treasury. But it was not clear who gave the money and to whom, as even the accusers from the House failed or refused to give details. The answer to the question: 'who did it'' is still blowing in the wind!In the heydays of the last session of the National Assembly (2007-2011), during the investigation into the money spent on power projects since 1999, allegations flew like missiles: that the House Committee on Power, headed by Ndidi Elumelu, compromised itself and as a result, the report of the committee had to be subjected to scrutiny by yet another ad-hoc committee headed by the current Speaker of the House, Aminu Tambuwal. The ghost of that dent in the House lingers but no one has been punished through any judicial process.Former and first female Speaker of the House of Representatives, Patricia Etteh, had to end her tenure prematurely because of allegation of inflation of contracts for renovation of the official residences of the Speaker and Deputy Speaker.Besides losing her plum position, in the process ofbattling to keep her job, one of her staunch supporters, Hon. Aminu Safana from Katsina, paid the supreme price: the man died!In the National Assembly, members come and go but allegations and counter-allegations have outlived all dispensations. And here, we go again, under Speaker Tambuwal: Big men, big cars, big committees yet small ideas in a small economy!Committees As Major Sources Of Corruption In NASSFOR 13 years, the two chambers of the National Assembly have suffered immeasurable damage in image and operations. They have also suffered untold hardships occasioned by leadership instabilities most of which had resulted from disconnect among the lawmakers.In most cases, issues of corruption have been the root causes of these unfortunate incidents. But the unanswered question is on the factors that make corruption to thrive in the hallowed chambers.Too Many CommitteesThe House of Representatives currently has 89 standing committees as opposed to a maximum of 35 recommended for a parliament of that nature.The Selection Committee of the House, headed by the Speaker, looks at many political factors in arriving at the decision to duplicate committees.With 89 committees, the House cannot get things done correctly because there is certainly over-duplication of roles and this generates conflict of interests.Committees Pursue Selfish InterestsOften, these committees have abandoned the national legislative interests for individuals' interests in their functions. This breeds corruption that has severely rocked the Assembly.A look at the United States Congress would be of help in educating our legislators regarding the way committees should function. The following quotation, lifted from an online outfit, is significant.'A congressional committee is a legislative sub-organisation in the United States Congress that handles a specific duty (rather than the general duties of Congress). Committee membership enables members to develop specialised knowledge of the matters under their jurisdiction.'As 'little legislatures,' committees monitor on-going governmental operations, identify issues suitable for legislative review, gather and evaluate information, and recommend courses of action to their parent body. Woodrow Wilson once said, '' it is not far from the truth to say that Congress in session is Congress on public exhibition, whilst Congress in its committee rooms is Congress at work.''Investigative/Oversight Legislative RolesTHIS is the aspect of legislative duties that had generated too much image problems for the House of Representatives. Issues had arisen from committees' oversight and investigative functions that created the impression that the legislature is yet to rise above the menace of corruption.In the US, 'Congress divides its legislative, oversight, and internal administrative tasks among approximately 200 committees and subcommittees.Within assigned areas, these functional subunits gather information; compare and evaluate legislative alternatives; identify policy problems and propose solutions; select, determine, and report measures for full chamber consideration; monitor executive branch performance (oversight); and investigate allegations of wrongdoing.The US Senate and the House have only 20 committees each since 1946 when it was reorganised and reduced from 48.While this investigatory function is important, procedures such as the House discharge petition process (the process of bringing a bill onto the floor without a committee report or mandatory consent from its leadership) are so difficult to implement that committee jurisdiction over particular subject matter of bills has expanded into semi-autonomous power.Autonomy Of CommitteesFrom 1999 till date, appointment of committee chairmen has created crisis in the National Assembly because the leadership had used it to service political loyalty. This has serious implications on the committees' autonomy, which is taken very seriously in the US Congress.In his often cited article, History of the House of Representatives, written in 1961, American scholar, George B. Galloway (1898-1967), said: 'In practice, Congress functions not as a unified institution, but as a collection of semi-autonomous committees that seldom act in unison.'Galloway cited committee autonomy as a factor interfering with the adoption of a coherent legislative programme. That autonomy remains a characteristic feature of the committee system in Congress today.Nigeria's House Speaker, Aminu Tambuwal, in appreciation of the important role of committees in parliament, tried to introduce reform in the system. But the reform does not involve reduction in the number of committees.In the House Legislative Agenda, which Tambuwal hoped to use as a tool in achieving the reform, it is stated:'The Committees being micro reflections of the larger House, its (their) operations and activities will be held to standards of efficiency, transparency and accountability, which are the same standards already defined to guide the Seventh Assembly of the House of Representatives.'In this regard, the Committee system in the House will be strengthened to deliver on efficiency and effective performance of legislative deliverables. The House is committed to equipping the Committees to function optimally.'The document continued: 'In the composition of membership and leadership of Committees, special attention will be paid to the skills and relevant experience of Members in order to achieve greater efficiency. Strict compliance with existing House Rules and Code of Conduct for Honourable Members will be required as a check on Chairmen of Committees and Members who violate them.'True democratic processes will be applied in the work of the Committees. Committees will be expected to prepare and submit their work plan, as well as periodic reports to the House on their activities, which will be considered and debated. Templates and standardisation of reporting formats will be introduced.'The Hembe Saga As Last StrawA SEEMING combination of youthfulexuberance and inexperience exhibited by the Chairman, House Committee on Capital Market, Herman Hembe, recently impacted negatively the investigative hearing organised by the House to look into the activities of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).What was thought to be the first effort to probe into the activities of the apex regulator turned into a circus show, as the committee chairman threw away decorum and specifically, his brief on the assignment, and engaged the SEC boss, Aruma Oteh, on allegations and counter-allegations of incompetence, corruption and reckless spending.However, before the commencement of the hearing, the committee had informed journalists that it had invited operatives of the country's anti-corruption agencies, including the EFCC and ICPC, to watch the exercise aimed at probing the dwindling fortunes of the market.Hembe explained that the involvement of the anti-graft agencies during the 18-day hearing was to restore public confidence and prepare a level-playing ground for major players in the telecommunication, energy and agriculture sectors of the nation's economy.His words: 'We believe, as a Committee, that the activities of regulators need to be looked into thoroughly, to determine if they have the capacity to regulate or by deliberate attempt they regulate wrongly (and this) has caused the market to collapse, or caused a situation to arise that made the investors' confidence to be dampened.'We are going to look at these critically and believe me, we are going to get into the root of it. We have invited agencies that ordinarily should prosecute this kind of situation, EFCC, for instance. We are hoping that (by) the attendance of EFCC, they will get first hand information from what we are doing and will ensure that people, who are found culpable at the end of the day, are prosecuted because this committee has documents before us that show to us that they have done things wrongly and people continue to do things wrongly (thus) threatening the security of this market.'They do these without worrying that their actions have caused people to lose confidence in the capital market itself. I think they should be brought to book to prevent the market from collapse' So, it's important that as parliamentarians, we need to intervene.'The lawmaker disclosed that since inauguration, the committee had been inundated with several petitions from the people who bought shares from banks, but didn't get their certificates, as the banks got merged and abandoned them, as well as from the people who bought shares from companies but were dumped somewhere and other sundry infractions.'Shareholders, who were not taking into consideration in the process of mergers and acquisition. When we have those kind of people who have invested their lives, some have one share, some have thousands of shares, some have millions of shares, when you begin the process of making those people lose faith, lose money in the investment, you make it difficult for those people to come back into the market. As a result of that, investor's confidence in Nigeria is low.If something is not done quickly to restore confidence in the market, we may not have a market again in the near future.'We need to do something to prevent the collapse of the capital market. I also know that the capital market is a technical area, but people have used the advantage of these technicalities to continue to deceive Nigerians for their personal lives. This is why a lot of people can do things and get away because these are not things Nigerians understand first hand. So, it is important for us, as a people, to find lasting solutions to these problems.'SEC Turns The TableBUT this was not to be, as it became a case of the hunter becoming the hunted on the second day of the public hearing. The Herman-led committee was accused of seeking bribe from the SEC. According to its director general, Aruma Oteh, the committee chairman demanded a bribe of N44m.It began with a drama, as barely a few minutes after she entered the hall, Oteh raised her hand apparently to lodge a complaint. And when Hembe granted her permission to speak, she said the committee was not competent to continue with the investigation of the activities of her office and the performance of the capital market under her.She said her reason was predicated on the fact that the chairman of the Capital Market Committee allegedly requested the sum of N39m to finance the investigation of the comatose market.However, when the request was turned down, the committee chairman, a week to the commencement of the public hearing, came to her and asked for N5m since the previous request was refused. She claimed she also turned down the request.Oteh alleged that it was her refusal to grant Hembe's requests that angered him, provoking his hostility against her at the public hearing.She also alleged that last year, the committee chairman collected from the SEC money and a business class ticket to travel to the Dominican Republic for a conference, stressing that Hembe did not travel and never returned the money to the SEC.Oteh said: 'Mr. Chairman, I question your credibility to preside over this probe. On 20th October last year, you were given a cheque to travel to Dominican Republic to attend a conference, you need to tell Nigerians whether you attended the conference, yet you did not return the cheques.'Nonetheless, Hembe simply asked representatives of the EFCC present at the hearing to take note of the allegations, which, he insisted, were weighty.'I hope the EFCC operatives are here. Strong allegations have been made against me and the committee; you should investigate the allegation,' he said. Those will be taken into consideration, to check whether in doing what we are doing today, we have been affected by such bias.'The public is also watching. If what I am doing is because of the fact that I have collected money from SEC to go on overseas trip to study and I didn't go, which is why I am doing what I am doing, the public will take note. But if it is the wish of members of the committee that I respond to the issues, I will go ahead and respond to the issues. I will respond to the issues as much as I can.'Also, a member, who interjected during the melee, said: 'I hope this is not a ploy to distract us from achieving the main objectives of this public hearing. Please, let this not be a ploy to distract us from achieving the main objective of this hearing.'I believe that we have the representatives of the ICPC and the EFCC with us. The issue of corruption or no corruption, we should put it aside. They are here and they will write their report. I think we should concentrate on the major issue here. Let's see how we can forge ahead with the hearing and achieve something before the end of the day.'A Rowdy SessionTHE Chairman of Committee shouted, 'Order! I want to say something as the chairman of this Committee. I will chair this committee to the end of this public hearing. I want to say firmly, in support of what you have said, that on the issues of bias or corruption, the committee has invited the EFCC and the ICPC.'Strong issues of corruption have been made against me. Strong issues of corruption have been made against the committee. So, it is our hope that you will investigate me deeply and investigate the committee, too. I give the permission to that and that is my ruling (hits the gravel). We will proceed with the business of the committee.'(Interjection by the DG, SEC)'Honourable Chairman, I feel that this is a kangaroo court.'This development marred the public hearing. What followed was a crescendo of parliamentary and press criticisms, which caused the House to discontinue with the exercise. In spite of this, the House instituted an ad-hoc committee, to continue investigation into the problems bedeviling the Capital Market.Even as the chairman of the committee, Herman Hembe, withdrew from the probe, amid a contrary allegation that it was the SEC, which attempted to bribe the committee with some N30m, which Hembe said it resisted, the House directed its committee on Ethics and Privileges to investigate the allegations of N44m demand by the committee to fund the public hearing and submit its findings within 14 days.
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