ABUJA - Members of the Transparency Group in the House of Representatives have frowned at remarks credited to a member of the House committee on ethics and privileges investigating allegations of fraud in the N2.3 billion purchase of 380 Peugeot 407 cars by the leadership of the House of Representatives that they came in solidarity of Lagos lawyer Festus Keyamo when he appeared before the panel.
The members have also called on the ethics committee to investigate the matter thoroughly and be fair in its report. Transparency Group is a group of members of the House advocating for independent probe into the allegations leveled against the leadership by Festus Keyamo.
A press statement issued and signed by the leader of the group, Hon. Tam Brisibe at the weekend, faulted recent story published in one of the national dailies which quoted a member of the ethics committee, Hon. Yakubu Dogara as saying that the group was working in concert Keyamo.
The statement titled “Hon. Dogara: A judge or an advocate” the group observed that “Our attention has been drawn to page 5 of the Daily Trust of Wednesday 19th November 2008 which in a story on the N2.3 billion car issue in the House of representatives has a paragraph which states as follows.
“However, Rep. Yakubu Dogara (PDP Bauchi) said that the testimony of the MPs have established a pattern as all of them were at the public hearing when Festus Keyamo testified and were also present when Gbenga Oduwaiye mounted the witness box”.
Hon. Brisibe noted that “Hon. Yakubu Dogara is a member of the Ethics and Privileges Committee investigating the matter concerning the 380 Peugeot 407 cars bought for the House Committee oversight functions and before which five members of the House of Representatives have also appeared. We want to state categorically that the statement credited to him is false as not all the members of the Transparency Group appeared at the public hearing when Festus Keyamo testified and when Hon. Gbenga Oduwaiye mounted the witness box.
The Transparency Group further maintained that “in the light of this it is worrying that a member of that committee is already making statements which appear to be prejudicial to the final report which is still being expected. In a civil court, a comment as was made by Hon. Dogara, being made by a judge sitting on a matter would automatically justify the call for a mistrial”.
The leader of the group restated their commitment that “the position of the Transparency Group is that we, by and large have confidence in the ability of our colleagues to be fair and transparent, and would only warn again, that the report of the Committee on Ethics and Privileges is not for the committee members alone, nor for the House of representatives, but for the Nigerian people whose taxes are used to maintain the institutions of state, the National Assembly inclusive”.
Meanwhile, a member of the group, Hon. Gbenga Oduwaiye is demanding a N250 million compensation from a civil rights activist, Comrade Farouk Umar for defamation.
In a letter dated November 17th, 2008 written by Oduwaiye’s lawyers, Kunle Kalejaye and co. the lawmaker said Umar’s latter to the house committee on ethics and privileges concerning their client was ‘defamatory’ and contained ‘false, spurious and malicious statements against our client which were fabricated by you to cast a slur on the image and integrity of our client’.
Apart from the N250 million for damages, Hon. Oduwaye is demanding a written apology from Comrade Umar in at least three widely read newspapers with a copy sent to the chairman of the committee on ethics.
According to the letter, failure by Comrade Umar to comply with the demands of Hon. Oduwaiye will result into a law suit.
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