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Friday 15 June 2012

So Obasanjo Was Right?

So it is true my man Farouk Lawan actually collected $620,000 bribe from Mr. Femi Otedola? So sad! I suspected so all along. Although I am not a fan of former president Olusegun Obasanjo, when he stated recently that there were “armed robbers, criminals and rogues” in the National Assembly, I knew he spoke as a person with strong evidence, even though many people did not take him seriously. Many observers and analysts had preferred to look at the messenger (Obasanjo) rather than the message. And expectedly, apparently to divert public attention, the “criminals” in the National Assembly poured all sorts of insults on the former president rather than address the issue. Their warped thinking in such a waste-of-time fallacy was that if Obasanjo proves to be judged objectionably in some way, his claims must also be judged unacceptable. To be sure, the strategy of the “rogues” works because Obasanjo himself, in the estimation of many right-thinking persons, was the embodiment of corruption. For eight years (1999 to 2007) that he spent in office as president, not many people doubted that he institutionised corrupt practices to the embarrassment of both the local and international community. So it was very easy for the naive public to wave with one hand Obasanjo’s claims about the apex legislative arm of
government. But we now know better: that there are actually criminals and armed robbers in the place. Farouk Lawan and his gang, the self-confessed bribe takers, vividly fit into Obasanjo’s description. Both the bribe giver and taker, Otedola and Farouk respectively, have confessed to the crime. It was Otedola who first opened the rim on what transpired. Although he was fingered all along, Otedola, in an exclusive interview with Thisday on Monday, said that Farouk blackmailed him to cough out $620, 000 as bribe for the House of Representatives committee that probed the fuel subsidy payments so as to exonerate him company from the indicting report. He claimed it was carried out in a sting operation masterminded by the security agencies. Like a thief that was caught, Farouk initially denied the allegation but later made a U-turn and shamelessly opened up: he confessed to journalists on Monday night that he actually took the bribe as evidence to nail Otedola. Imagine that stupid, brainless excuse! He should as well go and tell that to slow–thinking people. No sound mind will ever believe his idiotic story. Why did he deny Otedola’s story in the first place? Why did it take him over 40 days to tender the so-called $620,000 evidence against Otedola? Did he inform his colleagues about the bribe? I am too sure Farouk will not be able to answer these questions even at the point of death. One thing is very clear: Farouk is a clever crook who wanted people to believe that he was out to sanitise the oil industry; he is not better than those armed robbers breaking into the banks. Farouk has surely compounded the credibility problems of the National Assembly. In the last few months, there have been grotty, stinking revelations of dirty deals by the lawmakers. If it is not about pension funds today, it is about capital market or the scandalous furniture and car allowances tomorrow. Faroukgate has further reinforced the popular belief among many Nigerians that the Senate and the House of Representatives only initiate probes when they are broke and in order to extort money from government agencies and other affected people. And, as always expected, investigations by either the Senate or the House of Representatives have always turned out to be either a case of witch-hunting those who have refused to play ball or a mere grandstanding with political motives. In nearly all the cases, the probe exercise ended up useless, as we ended up gaining nothing from the probe. In other words, probes by some thieving National Assembly members are increasingly becoming the greatest instrument of blackmail regularly employed by the likes of Farouk. I have raised alarm in this same column, sometime ago, about Farouk’s dubious move to discredit the fuel subsidy report as a result of privileged information given to me by a member of his committee. The lawmaker had told me how Farouk had turned the probe panel into a money-spinning exercise – blackmailing people for money. And, when I was told he had soiled his hands, I then challenged him in this column to release his report if he could. But for the consistent, suffocating pressure from the media and civil society groups, Farouk was ready to delay the report till eternity. He kept on telling Nigerians not to stampede his committee into making a hasty and incomprehensive report. Even when he had compromised, Farouk, had raised the alarm that some powerful forces made attempts to oil his hands. He added that the probing exercise required that they provide answers to a lot of raised questions, and that, in dealing with a sensitive matter like that, it was important that it was done effectively and efficiently. He had promised to present a credible report that would hopefully answer all the questions raised and satisfy Nigerians. We have now seen the credible report. Let’s face it: Farouk has rubbished the report; in the next few days, the criminals in the oil sector, who benefitted hugely from the subsidy payments, would capitalize on Farouk’s dirty dealings to exonerate themselves. Their argument would be that the Farouk-led gang deliberately indicted them because they refused to play ball. The spin doctors working for them would also argue that, since the process that led to the production of the report was not credible, the report itself is questionable. True, we might not be able to fault them, all because of the greed of a few people. And, if the sting operation spearheaded by Otedola was deliberately created to rubbish the fuel subsidy report, the cabal has succeeded. The tune of the music has changed and, surely, the dance steps will also change. Farouk caused it. All in all, see what Farouk has done to himself, his innocent children and his entire family. He has brought shame to them. I got to know Farouk in 1999 as a senior National Assembly correspondent for TheNews/Tempo. He was a useful source for the award-winning story entitled “The Face of A Liar”, that in-depth report which chronicled the many lies and forgery of the then Speaker, Salisu Buhari, which eventually led to his removal from office. I lost touch with him in 2006. Before then, he appeared to me as a very honest, disciplined and incorruptible public officer. Until recently when his stinking deals were revealed, I was told his colleagues in the House feared and respected him, so much so that when they were doing some dirty deals they always kept them away from him. He headed the Integrity Group, a group of lawmakers that rooted former Speaker Eteh out of office for corrupt practices. But, as it stands today, Farouk’s dirty deals will occupy a strategic chapter whenever the history of the National Assembly is written – moving from grace to grass. It is pitiable!

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