Former
President Olusegun Obasanjo has blasted the National Assembly,
describing it as a den of corruption, which is occupied by unarmed
robbers.
Obasanjo & Buhari
Speaking during the First Akintola Williams annual lecture in Lagos
on Wednesday, former President Olusegun Obasanjo, launched a fresh
attack on the National Assembly, describing it as a “den of corruption”, which is occupied by “unarmed robbers”.
The ex-president who recommended that the ongoing President
Buhari's anti-corruption was in the judiciary be extended to the
legislative arm of government, said the corruption in Nigeria’s
parliament “stinks to high heavens”.
“If the judiciary is being cleaned, what of the national assembly which stinks much worse than the judiciary?” he asked.
“The national assembly cabal of today is worse than any cabal
that anybody may find anywhere in our national governance system at any
time. Members of the national assembly pay themselves allowances for
staff and offices they do not have or maintain.
“Once you are a member, you are co-opted and your mouth is
stuffed with rottenness and corruption that you cannot opt out as you go
home with not less than N15 million a month for a senator and N10
million a month for a member of the house of representatives. The
national assembly is a den of corruption by a gang of unarmed robbers.
“Most of them conduct themselves and believe that they are not
answerable to anybody. They are blatant in their misbehaviour, cavalier
in their misconduct and arrogant in the misuse of parliamentary immunity
as a shield against reprisals for their irresponsible acts of
malfeasance and/or outright banditry.”
Obasanjo wondered why the legislative arm of government had chosen
not to be transparent with the nation’s budget, and also condemned the “gang up against the whistleblower”, obviously making reference to Abdulmumin Jibrin, former chairman of the house of reps appropriation committee.
According to TheCable News, he appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to intervene, and purged the parliament of corruption.
“Budget padding must not go unpunished. It is a reality, which
is a regular and systemic practice. Nobody should pull wool over the
eyes of Nigerians.
“Ganging up to intimidate and threaten the life of whistle
blower is deplorable and undemocratic. What of the so-called
constituency projects which is a veritable source of corruption? These
constituency projects are spread over the budget for members of the
national assembly for which they are the initiators and the contractors
directly or by proxy and money would be fully drawn with the project
only partially executed or not executed at all.
“The national assembly budget process is not only carried out
in opaque and corruptive manner but also in grossly unconstitutional
manner. Hence, our lawmakers are lawbreakers. They are the accused, the
prosecutor, the defenders and the judge in their own case.
“We should not continue to live with the impunity and
corruption of the national assembly. Yes, I believe that something can
and should be done. The president should ride on the crest of the
popularity of what is happening in the judiciary to set up a highly
technical team of incorruptible investigators to look into the so-called
constituency projects of the past and the present and bring culprits to
book.
"The president has overall responsibility and accountability
for any fund appropriated under his watch. There would be many of such
projects and the national assembly would try to frustrate such necessary
investigation. But the project sites are known and magnitude of funds
voted for them are known. The investigation will reveal the true
situation,” he said.
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