Subsidy thieves: Reps plan surprise for presidency

Speaker, House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal

The House of Representatives is considering fresh options to ensure the implementation of the subsidy probe report by the Federal Government, in the event that the Executive fails to prosecute individuals and firms indicted by its ad hoc committee on the management of fuel subsidy.

Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Zakari Mohammed, made this known on Sunday during an agricultural empowerment programme in Baruten Local Government, Kwara State.

But the lawmaker, who represents Baruten/Kaiama Federal Constituency, did not give any details.

Mohammed said, “We have our options, supposing at the end of the day the Federal Government does not implement the recommendations and punish the culprits. You do not lay all your cards on the table. We have a fallback position.  Just watch.

“I am sure that Jonathan, through his Presidential Adviser to the National Assembly, Mrs. Joy Emodi, said that they would implement the findings of the ad hoc committee. I believe that we should believe them and keep watching.  Let us not stampede them and we should give them the benefit of the doubt.”

Mohammed assured Nigerians that the House would satisfy their yearnings for the implementation of the resolutions passed by its members on the report.

The House spokesman was apparently reacting to hints in a statement issued on Thursday by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Bello Adoke, that government was not ready to prosecute those indicted in the report.

In the statement, Adoke acknowledged that although the House conducted a painstaking investigation, which he described as a “fact-finding” mission, President Jonathan was not yet ready to take decisive action on it.

Instead, Adoke said government would pass the report to the anti-graft agencies for perusal.

Government’s seeming reluctance to deal with the culprits made civil society groups under the aegis of the Save Nigeria Group to, on April 30, 2012, give the Federal Government two weeks to act on the report or risk a protest march.

However, in another interview with The PUNCH, also on Sunday, Mohammed said the House  had played its part in exposing corruption, and noted that history would be harsh in judging those who failed to implement the report on the N1.070trn fuel subsidy scam.

He  said that the “facts of the investigations were thrown bare for all Nigerians to see,” adding that it was left to Nigerians to demand that government must implement the recommendations.

Mohammed explained that as a legislature, the House had played its constitutional role of exposing corruption through the subsidy probe.

He added, “We don’t have the power to prosecute; that is not our duty. We have played our role within the limits of the constitution.

“Somebody’s duty is to implement the report by prosecuting those found culpable. But, if they are not doing that, it is incumbent on Nigerians and civil society groups to insist that the report be executed.”

Mohammed argued that history would judge the 7th House as having investigated the subsidy scam and recommended that some organisations and individuals be punished.

“The same history will also judge those who refused to play their part; as a House, we played our part and that is how history will judge us,” he said.

Already, civil society groups and orgnanised labour are demanding the implementation of the report.

Last week, the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress, asked the government to ensure that the stolen subsidy money was recovered.

The leaderships of the two unions had paid a “solidarity visit” to the Speaker of the House, Mr. Aminu Tambuwal, on Thursday last week where they expressed their support for the House.

The NLC leadership was led by its President, Mr. Abdulwaheed Omar, while Mr. Peter Esele led the TUC delegation.

Omar had said that attempts by the executive to discredit the report were diversionary, noting that it should play its role just as the House had done.

He stated, “We want this report to be taken to the conclusions. “All those culprits must be brought to book. “If they (executive) say that there are some people to be probed, who were not invited, they should bring them up.”

Esele, on his part, said that the House had fulfilled the aspirations of Nigerians by adopting the subsidy report.

“Whatever we have to do to ensure that those who took the N1.07tn are brought to book, we will do it. “That money was meant for our roads, the health sector and our economy,” he said.