Hon. Farouk Lawan, chairman House of
Representatives ad-hoc committee on the subsidy regime admitted yesterday to
have received a bribe from Zenon Oil chairman, Mike Otedola but insisted the
bribe was at the insistence of the oil magnate. The nation had become embroiled
in a tale of bribery, denial and admission of such corrupt act by well
respected citizens on a matter for which millions of Nigerians protested and
some indeed lost their lives. Such is the level of decay or rot in our society
today. Otedola claims his actions were in connivance with the EFCC in a sting
operation to entrap the lawmaker. Farouk Lawan earlier denied but has now
claimed he received money but reported it to the Inspector General of Police. According
to Premium Times, however, it was the State Security Services that got Chief
Otedola to cooperate into setting up the lawmaker. Who is telling the truth?
Beyond the claims of Chief Otedola, the
denial by Hon. Lawan and his later admission, there is without doubt an obvious
plot playing out. Discredit the report and make it of no consequence. There had
been a great call by civil society, religious bodies, and majority of Nigerians
to implement the recommendations of the report as well as prosecute the persons
indicted in it. The president dragged his feet. The attorney general in a bid
to prove his seriousness at fighting sleaze described the report as a mere fact
finding mission and that another investigation would commence. Apparently, the
report’s popularity is obviously not in the best interest of the Jonathan
administration. His cabinet laboured hard to prove without conviction that
there was genuine subsidy and that it was unsustainable. The report was popular
because it said amongst other things that “Much of the amount claimed to have
been paid as subsidy was actually not for consumed PMS. Government officials
made nonsense of the PSF Guidelines due mainly to sleaze and in some cases,
incompetence. It is therefore apparent that the insistence by top Government
officials that the subsidy figures was for products consumed was a clear
attempt to mislead the Nigerian people.”
With the people believing a report that
says a government they elected was incompetent, the Jonathan administration
could not have been comfortable. The report had taken life of its own and might
even win the presidency if an election had been held the day after its release.
The report like Moses had to be killed before it could grow to become something
beyond the power of the powers that be. The current scandal has nearly
succeeded in doing the job. Hurray, the Jonathan administration can now breathe
a sigh of relief at the death of its enemy. Wait a minute; does the report lose
its sanctity because of one allegation? Does the bribe negate the findings of
the ad hoc committee? Did we all not watch the startling hearings? Did we not
see the KPMG audit report? Were these also influenced by the bribe?
The report was never going to be
implemented not by the Goodluck Administration anyway; it lacks moral
conviction to side with the people. It needed a way to discredit this report
and distract the people from the issues raised. Among the issues raised are
incompetence, intent to mislead the populace and entrenched corruption. Let us
take a look at incompetence. Basing our arguments not on the report which has
now been made of no effect, there was obvious inconsistency in the figure
claimed by the government as subsidy figure. Government had budgeted
N250billion for the subsidy (part payment) yet went ahead to pay N1.3trillion
to marketers. If that is not incompetence, it is deliberate corruption and
mediocrity. How does a government elected popularly spend more than a budgetary
approved sum and not find out who did wrong? Why had the government set up
SUREP or whatever junk of acronym that meant in haste? Revelations from the
dialogue with labour and the FG during the strike period showed that the
discussions were not about the subsidy but about the security of Jonathan’s
tenure.
Hold on a little, Hon. Farouk Lawan’s
report is not an infallible work of investigation! His report is not an unquestionable thesis. What
about his character? What kind of man will stoop so low in the greatest job of
his life as to demand or receive a bribe (sting operation or not)? Exorcists expel
demons not admit them. Why had it been different with Farouk Lawan? Why had he
decided get himself involved in the same system that had bedevilled Nigerians. The
truth is that Farouk Lawan is still a member of the party that has kept
Nigerians poor despite abundance of human and natural resource. It goes ahead
to prove that there is not an honest man in the party deceiving people.
While Lawan is not worthy of the
attention he has generated, his report though losing credibility on account of
his misdeed has not lost its essence and veracity. This writer is of the
opinion that the full episode of bribery be investigated with a view to
determining and punishing guilt where found. Tale that Hon. Lawan had intimated
the IG of the bribery from Otedola has far reaching implications also. Why was
Otedola not arrested? The SSS setup a sting operation to bribe Lawan, why was
he not arrested? The whole episode is one drama that characterises the present
administration: clueless. But that cluelessness has disappeared. This regime is
now one that is capable of scheming plots like these yet the aim is presently
unknown. Whatever the aim is, it is the people who are bearing the brunt of
these schemes. A Machiavellian principle is being ridiculed. The people want
only one thing: not to be oppressed. As this scenario continues to unfold, it
is the common Nigerian that is being oppressed. They are being oppressed by a
regime they lined up to vote.
For the avoidance of doubt, sums above a
budgetary allocation for subsidy were paid. Government said it was
unsustainable to pay such outrageous sums and withdrew the subsidy against the
wishes of its employers the people. Farouk Lawan’s committee investigated and
proved that there was fraud in the subsidy regime contrary to government’s
position. The people hailed the report. The allegations came and damaged the
reporter but not the report. The report remains valid on several grounds. The
people must not be made to continue to pay more while the real crooks get
overlooked. The report must not die!
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