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The 469 members of
the Senate and House of Representatives are frustrating the
anti-corruption effort of the federal government, Emmanuel Ayoola, the
Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related
offences commission (ICPC) said recently.

Out of the N2
trillion recurrent expenditure in the 2010 budget, N138 billion is
meant for the National Assembly – some 6.6 per cent of the budget. Only
two ministries: Defense and Education, have a higher recurrent
expenditure.

The lawmakers were
recently involved in a war of words with former president, Olusegun
Obasanjo. Mr Obasanjo, who ruled the country for eight years, accused
the lawmakers of corrupt activities, including beefing up the budget
proposal of the presidency so as to have personal gains. The minority
leader of the House of Representative, Mohammed Ndume, who did not deny
that the legislators were corrupt, accused the former president of
breeding corruption while in office, including giving “N50 million each
to members of this House to extend his tenure.” Though Mr Ndume made
the statement in public at a media briefing, anti-corruption agencies
appear unwilling to investigate the allegations.

Femi Babafemi, the
spokesperson of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC),
denied the commission’s knowledge of Mr Ndume’s statement. “I am not
aware of it,” he said; while Folu Olamiti, the spokesperson of the
ICPC, was non-committal.

Human rights
lawyers and anti-corruption crusaders say the agencies would have
failed to perform their duties if the allegation is not investigated.

“The EFCC cannot
just sit down as a lame duck and say they are not aware. EFCC cannot
wash off its hands like Pontius Pilate and say they have not received a
petition and are not aware of it,” said Jiti Ogunye, a Lagos-based
human rights lawyer. “Now that this man has come publicly to say this
actually happened, it is the duty of the EFCC to say, ‘Mr Lawmaker,
come forward. Come and give us a statement’, and then commence
investigations.”

Olanrewaju Suraj of
the Movement Against Corruption (MAC), believes Mr Ndume’s statement is
a confirmation of a widely held opinion. “The guy is just making a
confirmation of what we have said actually happened during the madness
of this tenure elongation thing,” Mr Suraj said. “Except the EFCC is
also shying away from its duties and responsibilities, investigations
can be commenced immediately. We need to know where those monies were
gotten from.” However, the ICPC, whose chairman, Emmanuel Ayoola,
stated last week that they would commence investigation on the
allowances of the legislators based on Mr Obasanjo’s accusation,
explained that the legislators were also hindering his commission’s
efforts.

Frustrating fight

Mr Ayoola explained
that, for three years, the National Assembly has failed to pass a law
that would make his commission’s work easier. The existing ICPC act
prescribes that the commission can only begin corruption investigations
when it receives a petition on the alleged crime.

“The National
Assembly has been dealing with the amendment of the ICPC act, in which
is put an express provision permitting us to be proactive. That has
been on for the past three years,” Mr Ayoola stated. “We’ve gone for
public hearings in the Senate; we’ve gone for public hearings in the
House. We’ve submitted our memorandum, but up till now, the amendment
has not been passed.” However Mr Ogunye, who stated his utmost respect
for the ICPC chairman, disagreed with him.

“The delay (in
passing the amendments) may be because members of the National Assembly
themselves are corrupt. I would rather act and wait for the court to
then say that you cannot act because you don’t have a petition to
commence investigations,” Mr Ogunye stated.

Efforts to get the two chambers of the National Assembly’s reactions were unsuccessful.

Ayogu Eze, the
Senate spokesman’s telephone was switched off, while Eseme Eyiboh, the
spokesman of the House of Representatives, did not answer our telephone
calls.

Though Mr Ayoola
claims that the commission is already finding “ways and means of
breaking out of the limitation,” and that no Nigerian is being treated
as a sacred cow, investigations show that federal lawmakers may be
enjoying a break.

For instance,
Dimeji Bankole, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, has not
once been invited for questioning by any of the agencies, despite
various allegations levied against him.

Missing Report

Farida Waziri, the
EFCC chairperson, told journalists on June 7, that her commission has
sent a report of its investigations into the N2.3billion Peugeot car
scandal involving the leadership of the House of Representatives, to
the presidency. Mr Jonathan, through his spokesman, has denied the
claim. Yet, the commission has kept mum on the report.

When asked on the
status of the report, Mr Babafemi said, “I don’t know.” Anti corruption
fighters, however, condemn the EFCC’s position on the report.

“Submitting a report to the presidency already shows that they
either don’t have a case that they want to pursue or there have been
some underhand dealings that is also connected with them,” Mr Suraj
said. “There is no immunity for the Speaker, where we can say they are
hiding under immunity or they have been barred by immunity for the
Speaker.”