Talk:Farouk Lawan

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The bribery allegation against a high-ranking member of the Seventh House of Representatives, and the Chairman of the Ad hoc Committee on Fuel Subsidy, Farouk Lawan, leaves a sour taste in the mouth. The allegations coming barely a week after the chest- thumbing by the House for one successful legislative year must have been a kill joy.

According to reports, the Representative from Kano had initially tried to rebuff the allegations, but when confronted with the existence of a video evidence of the bribe incident, taunted the theory that the $620,000 he allegedly received was an inducement, and that he kept it as evidence.

To prove the innocence of the leadership of the House of Representatives, an emergency session was held last Friday at which the allegations were handed over to the Ethics Committee, and Lawan stripped of his chairmanship positions. At the session, the House members made strenuous efforts to distance the leadership from what apparently is a damning report against Mr Lawan. The Speaker begged the public to distinguish the acts of an institution from the conduct of its members. He also urged the public to continue to support the House, promising that the much-advertised legislative agenda would be carried through by the House, despite the challenges.

The House of Representatives surely have my sympathy and I guess that of many Nigerians, as far as their findings over the fuel subsidy scam is concerned. While the allegations against Mr Lawan has diminished the credibility of their findings, the collaborations that the subsidy regime is a huge racket from the Governor of Central Bank and the Ministry of Finance and even the Petroleum Ministry cannot be wished away by the beneficiaries of that scam and their collaborators in government. So, while the enemies of the leadership of the House of Representatives at the executive branch of government or in the subsidy racket are free to enjoy the discomfort of the House’s leadership as they try to clean the mud, both should not be deceived as to the feelings of Nigerians over the subsidy scam.

While Farouk Lawan should be brought to justice; the conduct of Mr Femi Otedola and the security agencies he claimed to have reported the incident to needs also to be examined by a third party. For instance, how come the security agency, which allegedly gave Mr Otedola the marked notes he gave to Lawan, failed to immediately arrest Mr Lawan on his way home after he received the cash, with all the video evidence allegedly showing the Representative stuffing the dollars in his pockets and cap, like a Baba Suwe. If marked notes were truly given, how come the security men were willing to allow Mr Lawan go away with the loot, knowing that he could spend same, and deprive them from retrieving that vital piece of evidence; or was Otedola willing to allow the sleeping dog lie, but only forced by yet-to-be explained circumstance to change his minds.

Unfortunately, the history of investigations by the Nigeria Police does not give hope that there will be a thorough investigation of the allegations against Mr Lawan, and the sudden anti-corruption activism of Femi Otedola. So, Nigerians will likely once again wring their hands in frustration; while the House members will patiently wait for them to forgive and forget. Fortuitously, I had last week on this page appealed to the House and the Senate to come to terms with their grave constitutional responsibilities, if they are to help guide Nigeria to prosperity in democracy. As I stated there, members of the national assembly are too involved in unlawful enrichment of themselves to truly act as a guardian angel to our national development.

As I argued, the leadership of the National Assembly must first purge its members of the grave unconstitutional conduct of disregarding the Revenue Mobilisation and Fiscal Commission to fix extravagant wages for their members. The theory that members need to be paid as much as they want to steer them away from corruption, they must now realise with the recurring scandals can not be justified. Indeed, I have no doubt in my mind that if there is any chance that Lawan could be found guilty under our weak criminal justice system for the alleged scam, he (Farouk) would likely know more than enough secrets and unlawful conducts of the leadership to force a compromise. There is also the chance that many members of the House may be against their current unconstitutional conduct, but are too afraid to call for a change, to avoid getting lynched by other rapacious colleagues.

But if truly Honourable Speaker Tambuwal wants to make any difference, and not just play survival politics, then he must return the House to constitutionalism. In the face of the timidity shown by the Federal High Court in the suit filed by the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) challenging the unconstitutional conduct of the National Assembly over their unconscionable appropriations of our common resources to their members, the legislature has become the proverbial bull in a China shop. As I also earlier, when Lawan was still an Honourable prancing around like a Magistrate probing corruption, there is the need for another authority to also supervise the legitimacy of the actions of the National Assembly. That constitutional responsibility lies with the courts; and they must be courageous in discharging that responsibility.

By and large, there is the need for those entrusted with high public office, to have the requisite moral character needed to withstand tempting lucre. The leadership of the House has a major test at hand, as Nigerians watch the Lawan saga unfold. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Emma Okoror (talk • contribs) 11:36, 22 June 2012 (UTC)