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The House unanimously passed resolutions relieving Lawan from the chairmanship of the subsidy panel and replaced with Rep. John Owan Enoh (PDP, Cross Rivers) while all other members of the panel were retained.
The green chamber also suspended Lawan from chairing the House standing committee on education which he is sitting on since 2007.
In the same vein, the allegations against Lawan by Otedola was also referred to the House Committee on Ethics and Privileges chaired by Rep. Gambo Dan Musa (CPC, Katsina) for investigation. The committee is to report back within two weeks.
The lawmakers also rescinded the decision exonerating Otedola’s companies Zenon Oil and Gas Limited and Synopsis Oil from fraudulently collecting foreign exchange from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in the name of oil importation but did not import fuel in 2011.
Similarly, the legislators directed the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and other anti-graft agencies to verify what they used the forex for.
The resolutions were adopted after a motion on the matter was raised by the House Chief Whip Isiaka Mohammed Bawa (PDP, Taraba), who noted that the allegations against Lawan will impugn on the integrity of the subsidy report if not thoroughly investigated.
Seconding the motion, Minority Whip Samson Osagie (ACN, Edo) said, as parliament “like Caesar’s wife we must leave above board and if a member of the National Assembly is alleged to have committed any misdemeanour, it is not the National Assembly that has done so, because we swore by the constitution individually.”
Osagie further said “this crisis is very unfortunate. It shouldn’t have happened in the first place. We must warn ourselves for the remaining tenure. This is reminiscent of the Watergate scandal in the US under Richard Nixon where the state set up security agencies to black mail the House. Nigerians should watch out for this new dimension to executive-legislature relationship.”
Also, Osagie proposed amendment to the substantive motion in which he called the House to pass a vote of confidence in the leadership of Speaker Aminu Waziri Tambuwal which was unanimously adopted by the lawmakers.
Reports alleged that the Presidency was behind the subsidy bribery in a well planned plot to oust Tambuwal, an allegation the Presidency denied. The MPs nonetheless overwhelmingly passed a vote of confidence in the Speaker yesterday.
The session was headed by the Clerk to the National Assembly Abubakar Mai Kasuwa which is the first time the CNA would attend a sitting of a House and not the Joint Session of both Senate and House.
Deputy Speaker Emeka Ihedioha who chaired the re-consideration of the two companies in question, said by implication they have now referred them to relevant anti-graft agencies for investigation.
Yesterday’s plenary session was the second in the history of democratic Nigeria as the House also held a similar one on Sunday 8th January 2012 after the Federal Government removed fuel subsidies. It was during that emergency session that the House instituted investigation into the management of fuel subsidy regime and appointed Lawan and seven others as chairman and members of the panel.
The committee held series of public hearings in January and February this year and subsequently submitted its report to the House on 18th April. Lawmakers deliberated upon it and passed resolutions in late April at about the time Otedola said he offered Lawan and the committee clerk Mr. Boniface Emenalo $620,000 bribe in what he called “sting operation” master minded by security agencies.
Lawan had during consideration of the report requested the House to delist Zenon Oil and Gas Limited and Synopsis Oil from the list of companies which collected forex in the name of subsidy but did not import fuel.
Source: Dailytrust newspaper
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