ABUJA - The Speaker,House of Representatives, Mr. Oladimeji Bankole, has said that N1.5 trillion revenue generated by some agencies in the past 10 years was not remitted to the federation account.
Bankole, who spoke yesterday at the annual conference of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), however, declined to name the agencies.
He insisted that the rule of law must be maintained at all times.
The Speaker promised that the legislature would not fail to publish the reports of the ongoing investigations into some agencies, including those of the power sector and NNPC.
He declared: “In the National Assembly, we have started investigating some agencies.
We are not probing anyone, but only performing our oversight functions.
“If there is no power in the country, we want to know why, we want to know how much was spent and what the problems are, so that we don’t make the same mistakes.
“Whatever money that was spent, the bottom line is that there is no power, and we shall have power, and also change laws to make sure power comes.”
Bankole also referred to the ongoing efforts to resolve the Niger Delta crisis, noting that the legislature was aware of the agitation for the 13 per cent derivation.
He noted, however, that a particular state in the South-South earned more revenue than the entire states in the North Eastern region.
“This means economically speaking, the South-South is in the fore-front of the regions with more fortunes,and yet the place is exploding everyday because of constitutional amendment.
“Now, we begin to ask ourselves, the 13 per cent derivation and other funds in the past nine years, have they yielded the desired outcome?” he asked.
Bankole said no single House of Assembly in the Niger Delta region
had ever asked any question from their governors on what happened to the funds.
He urged the NBA to send some memoranda that could assist the National Assembly
in the current debate on constitutional amendment.
Mrs. Farida Wazari, the EFCC Chairwoman, urged the NBA to partner with the
commission to ensure that the country was free from corruption.
“We know you owe a lot to your clients, but you have a duty to your country, as it is not right to throw caution to the winds, because you want to please your clients.
“In the anti-corruption crusade, the commission looks forward to NBA to co-operate with us to achieve the desired results,” she added.
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