Hello Friends!
Sincerely? I would humbly recommend that all investigations/probing etc should be done in the full glare of the good people of this country. It's our resources that is at stake here, thus we are obligated to be adequately informed!
There were indications on Wednesday that the House of Representatives Committee on Ethics and Privileges might conduct its investigations into the bribery allegations against the Chairman of the House Committee on Capital Market and other Institutions, Mr. Herman Hembe, by the Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Ms. Aruma Oteh, behind closed doors.
The House had referred the matter to the Committee on Ethics and Privileges for investigation within 14 days.
Since the Chairman of the committee, Mr. Gambo Musa, was also a member of Hembe’s committee, the Minority Whip of the House, Mr. Sampson Osagie, an Action Congress of Nigeria lawmaker from Edo State, was drafted to head the committee.
The House had on Tuesday, relieved Hembe and his committee of presiding over the investigations into the capital market crises, naming in its place, an eight-member panel to re-start the probe.
Hembe and Oteh are expected to appear before the committee to make submissions, in addition to other findings by the panel.
Findings on Wednesday showed that members of the Committee kept their work plan under wraps, as they were not unwilling to comment on the procedure for the sittings.
A source informed The PUNCH that members were advised to avoid generating “unnecessary controversies.” “The probe of the capital market generated so much controversy lately; the House mandated this committee to look into the bribery allegations made against its member.
“The committee will likely avoid the public glare; they have to do a diligent work. Besides, they have a very short time of two weeks to submit a report,” a lawmaker told our correspondent.
Efforts by The PUNCH to obtain the work plan of the committee failed on Wednesday.
When our correspondent sought the comments of Osagie on the assignment before him, he replied, “You do not expect that this will be a matter for the media.
“We have a work to do and we have two weeks to do the work; that is all I can say. I am a seasoned legislator and you did not think that the House appointed me to be a judge in this case and to be speaking to the media.”
On whether the committee would conduct its sittings behind closed doors, Osagie said, “This question, again, is intended to elicit information from me and I will not give you.”
Osagie also said, “We have two weeks; we will work within two weeks and submit our report.”
Meanwhile, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on Wednesday stated that it was intensifying investigations into the alleged scam currently rocking the public hearing on the activities of the Securities and Exchange Commission by the House Committee on Capital Market and Other Institutions.
According to the commission, its operatives are presently gathering documents and oral evidence that could be useful in unraveling the corruption allegations between Oteh and Hembe.
When contacted, the spokesperson for the EFCC, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, said that the anti-graft agency was investigating the allegations.
He said, “Investigation is on-going into the matter. Our operatives are working on the case. We are gathering documents that will assist us. Apart from the documents, there would definitely be need for oral evidence in the course of gathering evidence. So, those involved would be quizzed.”
Uwujaren was, however, evasive on when the dramatis personae in the saga would be summoned for questioning.
He also refused to disclose the documents that had been gathered by the operatives and their sources.But our correspondent learnt that most of the documents would come mostly from SEC.
During a House of Representatives hearing on the Nigerian Capital Market, Oteh had told a stunned audience that the committee demanded gratification in the days preceding the hearing.
Oteh had said that the committee demanded N39m from SEC to fund the hearing and that the chairman of the committee had asked for N5m from her 24 hours before the hearing.
Oteh, who said that she turned down both requests, further alleged that SEC sponsored Hembe on a purported trip to the Dominican Republic to attend a conference on capital market operations in 2011.
Her allegations led to the sacking of the committee and its replacement with an eight-man ad hoc committee to start the probe afresh.
Hembe said he was ready to submit to the anti-corruption probe.
Source Punch Newspapers.
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Simply Cheska...
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