THE House of Representatives on Wednesday said the bribery tapes
exposing the negotiations between a businessman, Mr. Femi Otedola, and
a lawmaker, Farouk Lawan, were targeted at diverting attention from
the subsidy probe report.
Reacting to the audio tapes airedon independent Channels Television
station and the briberysaga, spokesman for the lower legislative
chamber, Zakari Mohammed, said, "House is worried, more so that these
are all distractions deliberately created to divert attention from the
report of the fuel subsidy probe.
"Our position as a House is that let relevant anti-graft agencies
implement the recommendationsof the report. They should pick up the
report and commence prosecution."
Coincidentally, an Abuja Federal High Court on Wednesday granted an
interim order restraining the Federal Government from implementing the
House panel report as it relates to one of the indicted oil firms,
Integrated Oil and Gas Limited.
The House's committee, chaired by Lawan, had probed fuel subsidy
management in the country and indicted some government agencies, oil
marketers and companies said tohave cheated the system to the tune of
N1.7tn.
The committee had also recommended that the indicted agencies and
firms refund various sums of money in addition to being prosecuted by
the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
Integrated Oil and Gas Limited is one of the companies indicted, and
told to make a refund to the Federal Government.
The report has however run into a troubled waters with an expose by
Otedola that he had a$3m bribery deal with Lawan to keep his firm,
Zenon Oil, out of the list of indicted companies.
Otedola said he had paid the lawmaker $620,000 out of the agreed sum
but that he backed out from paying the balance because he believed
that his company did not in any way abuse the subsidy system.
He said Lawan had merely obtained the money from him under pressure
and with the knowledge of security agents who encouraged him to hand
over marked notes to the lawmaker.
After the initial denial, Lawan hadrevealed that he received the sum
from the businessman but that he only did so in order to expose
Otedola.
The said bribery tapes are part ofthe messy saga currently under
investigation by the police and the House.
In the audio clips, two so far, voices believed to be that of Otedola
and Lawan were heard negotiating the bribe and payment arrangement.
But Mohammed said the tapes were "distractions" released to frustrate
the implementation of the House fuel subsidy probe panel.
He said, "As a House, we have distanced ourselves from the personal
matter of an individual. We have asked security agencies to
investigate it and do their job.
"However, while that is being done, we believe that the report exposed
massive corruption in the oil industry and should be implemented.
"While (Farouk) Lawan is facing his personal issue, let the anti-graft
agencies implement the report. This is our position.".
Meanwhile, the House has clarified that Otedola is not in anyway o
trial before it.
Mohammed told journalists that "a wrong impression" was beingcreated
in the media that Otedolawas on trial before the panel.
According to him, the focus of the House is its member, Lawan, whose
"credibility has been called to question" in the light of the bribery
scandal.
He explained that the Committee on Ethics and Privileges was a
disciplinary committee, which handled issues relating to the conduct
of lawmakers, adding that Otedola's role was to assist the committee
with information that would help the House to resolve the bribery
allegation.
"But, he came and he responded in a way that he felt was his ownway of
assisting the committee. People are now making it look asif we have
turned ourselves into a trial court," he said.
He added that by the rules of the House, the Committee on Ethics and
Privileges sits in camera.
"The House has its rules and it is not an extension of the estate of
any person. Nobody is higher than an institution; so, Otedola cannot
dictate to us on how to run the parliament," he said.
Otedola had appeared before theHouse ethics committee on Tuesday but
declined to speak except the session would be covered on TV live.
Chairman of the committee, Gambo Musa, said the businessman had merely
laughedat the questions put to him, adding that Otedola was misguided
not to answer the committee's questions.
In granting Integrated Oil and Gas Limited's interim request, Justice
Gladys Olotu, said the order was pending the determination of a suit
in which the oil firm was challenging the report of the Lawan-led
probe committee.
The subsidy probe committee, in its report, had recommended that
Integrated Oil and Gas Limited should refund the sum
ofN13,252,055,429.00 (thirteen billion, two hundred and fifty two
million, fifty five thousand, four hundred and twenty nine naira) to
the Federal Government.
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