Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Aminu Tambuwal
The
two major political parties’ caucuses of the House of Representatives,
the Peoples Democratic Party and the All Progressives Congress, on
Tuesday disagreed over the N30tn alleged to have either been “stolen” or
“mismanaged” under the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan
till date.
A former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Prof. Chukwuma
Soludo, made the allegation on Monday in a widely circulated article he
wrote on the alleged mismanagement of the Nigerian economy under
Jonathan’s watch.
The House caucuses held opposing views on the matter in separate interviews with our correspondent.
While the APC caucus demanded an immediate investigation into the
allegation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the PDP
caucus simply dismissed it as a “wild, baseless and unsubstantiated
allegation.”
Speaking on behalf of the APC, the House Minority Leader and caucus
leader, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila, said the magnitude of the amount involved
should cause sleepless nights for any government.
He noted that aside being a renowned economist, Soludo served as the
governor of the CBN and was in a position to know the financial dealings
of the Federal Government.
“It is a common knowledge that our economy has been leaking profusely over the years due to mismanagement and outright theft.
“However, no one could have imagined the magnitude and volume as
suggested by Prof. Soludo. Now, because he is a former CBN governor and
an internationally-acclaimed economist, he should know and be taken
serious,” Gbajabiamila told our correspondent.
He argued that, even if the money involved was N15tn or N20tn, it could still cripple any economy.
The APC lawmaker from Lagos State spoke further, “Now, let us assume
for argument sake that he embellished and exaggerated his N30tn figure.
“Let us slash it by a 50 per cent margin of error to say N15tn or
even N20tn, it still beats the imagination and shocks the system.”
Calling on the EFCC to investigate the allegation, he added, “This
will be the biggest case of economic and financial crime for which the
EFCC was established to look into.
“Ignoring this allegation makes everyone or authority in Nigeria that
keeps quiet an accessory, after the fact and just as guilty if the
crime is established.”
However, Deputy House Majority Leader, Mr. Leo Ogor, stated that he
was surprised to hear an economist of Soludo’s status make such an
allegation.
Ogor argued that the former CBN governor’s article appeared more like
a product of “guess work and unsubstantiated figures” than anything
that should be taken seriously.
The lawmaker from Delta State also claimed that anybody with the
intent of “running down a government could easily put figures together
and make them appear so convincing.”
He added that when such figures and allegations were subjected to
investigation, “you will find out that that the person making all the
noise becomes tongue-tied.”
“Our laws stipulate clearly that he who makes allegations must be prepared to show proof.
“Sometimes, some of these our so-called technocrats that have turned politicians overnight, are seeking relevance.
“It is even more embarrassing coming from somebody like Soludo.
“He should go the extra mile to provide all the documents or we
should just ignore him and concentrate on good governance as we are
already doing,” he stated.
Ogor also dismissed any call to investigate the allegation, saying that Soludo’s article had no “basis at all.”
He claimed that the House in particular would not consider such a
move because there was no evidence before it suggesting that N30tn was
either stolen or unaccounted for by the Jonathan administration.
“We don’t probe unnecessary allegations. We have been carrying out our budget oversight on all government bodies.
“There is nowhere we have this evidence. This is merely intended to
divert attention and it should be quickly ignored,” he added.
He said but for Soludo’s clarification that he was not looking for a
job, he (Ogor) would have concluded that the former CBN governor
urgently needed to catch the attention of Jonathan for a job.
“If he needs a job, he should say so. There is nothing bad in admitting it.Culled.
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