A new and really incriminating report has shown how top members of the National Assembly took part in a financial fraud.
Saraki, Ekweremadu, Dogara
A report by SaharaReporters has revealed that the quartet of Senate
President, Bukola Saraki; his deputy, Ike Ekweremadu; House of
Representatives Speaker, Yakubu Dogara; and his deputy, Lasun Yusuf,
have been accused of financial fraud totaling N630,125,499.90.
According to the report, the accusation was made by an advocacy
group, Citizens Action to Take Back Nigeria (CATBAN), which said the
four principal officers of the National Assembly executed the fraud by
pressuring and using the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) to
provide them with accommodation. This is in spite of the fact that the
monetization policy of the Federal Government bars all agencies from
using taxpayers money for to meet personal demands of public officers
outside the provisions of the law.
An independent investigation it conducted, disclosed CATBAN, showed
that in March 2016, the four principal officers of the National
Assembly approached the management of the Federal Capital Development
Authority (FCDA) to provide them with residential accommodation. This,
it said, was sequel to a plan perfected by an agent acting between the
National Assembly and FCDA to steal money via dubious accommodation
requests.
The requests, revealed CATBAN, were approved within 48 hours and
followed with fund disbursement, an indication of the desperation to
quickly get the money. The four principal officers added CATBAN, then
presented companies that doubled as estate agents and property owners
for the exercise. The companies used were Gogetit Investment Limited,
which used a Zenith Bank account to receive the money, Legendark Consult
Limited, which used a Guaranty Trust Bank account to reeive its own
share, and Pitch Global Services, which has an account domiciled with
Heritage Bank.
Through the four companies, CATBAN said it found that the sum of
N630,125,499.90 was fraudulently paid by the FCDA for phoney renting,
renovation and furnishing of four properties as official residences for
Messrs. Saraki, Ekweremadu, Dogara and Lasun.
Messrs. Saraki and Dogara, the group noted, presented residential
properties owned by them as rented houses, while Messrs. Ekweremadu and
Lasun did not present any residential property, but collected their
share of the money. The Senate President, for example, presented a
property acquired while he was governor of Kwara State for which he was
illegally paid a total sum of N200million.
For the property, which is located at No. 48 Lake Chad Crescent in
Abuja’s Maitama District, Mr. Saraki received N113,095,238.00 and
N11,904,761.90 in Value Added Tax (VAT) as rent.
For furnishing, he received N67,857,142.86 and VAT of N7,142,857.14.
On his part, the House of Representatives Speaker presented a
property built for him by a controversial property developer also known
as Alhaji AA Oil. The house is located at 9 Persian Gulf Close, off
Euphrates Street, Wuse 2, Abuja, the building illegally fetched Mr.
Dogara N73m and VAT of N7m as rent. For furnishing, the Speaker creamed
off N63m and VAT of N6m giving him an aggregate of N150m.
Deputy Senate President, Mr. Ekweremadu, who did not bother to
present a property walked away with N90m and VAT of N9m a s rent,
N45,084,285.72 plus VAT of N4,745,714.28 for furnishing, leaving him
with a not exactly shoddy aggregate of N150m. The Deputy Speaker of the
House of Representatives, like Mr. Ekweremadu, did not present a
property but netted a total of N130million.
According to CATBAN’s investigation, Mr. Lasun illegally got N62m
and N6,571,428.58 in VAT for rent, while pocketing N55, 190,476.18 and
VAT of N5,809,523.82 for furnishing
CATBAN noted that the discoveries made during its investigation
have put a huge question mark on the integrity of the National Assembly
leadership and brought into sharper focus the sweeping corruption
afflicting the country. CATBAN argued that the affected principal
officers must be made to refund the illegally taken sums.
“Based on the above, we demand an immediate refund of our
taxpayers’ money stolen by these principal officers and subsequently
call on the Nigerian Police Force and all relevant security agencies to
wade into the situation and ensure that justice is served. We also want
to remind all senators and members of House of Representatives that they
are duty bound to ensure appropriate sanctions against their
colleagues, who have soiled the image of the National Assembly,” said CATBAN.
The group warned that if members of the National Assembly fail to
apply appropriate action against the affected officers, it will mobilise
Nigerians to protest at the National Assembly Complex to demand
appropriate action.
CATBAN argued that the National Assembly has all its statutory
earning and allowances properly fixed and spelt out by the Revenue
Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) Act, 2002.
The law, CATBAN added, gives the National Assembly the power and
control over its own budget and expenditure, including payment of all
forms of allowances. The RMAFC, observed the group, calculates the
remuneration packages for political, public and judicial office holders
is calculated in relation to the percentages of their basic salaries.
“For example, each Nigerian Senator receives 150% of his/her
annual basic salary as accommodation allowance, while each member of our
Federal House of Representatives gets the same equivalent.
“In view of this, the appropriate accommodation allowance for
the Senate President is N3,720,000.00 and that of his Deputy is
N3,451,500.00. In the case of the Speaker of the House of
Representatives, his accommodation allowance is N3,705,000.00, while his
deputy is entitled to N3,435,000.00,” noted CATBAN.
The group said it established the fact that the National Assembly
has always been well taken care of in terms of receipt of allocations
and allowances, which implies that all members, including the principal
officers of both chambers, have been promptly receiving the statutory
allocations, including for accommodation.
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