You can’t distract us with corruption allegations – Reps reply Obasanjo
The
House of Representatives has reacted to the allegation of financial
impropriety levelled against the National Assembly by former President
Olusegun Obasanjo.
Chairman House of Representatives Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Abdulrazak Namdas reacting to the allegation described it as an attempt by the former President to distract the 8th Assembly adding that the House has chosen to ignore him.
Namdas added that the former president must have been speaking about the high rate of corruption in the parliament under his own government of the 4th and 5th Session of the parliament.
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo in a letter dated January 13, accused the National Assembly leadership of financial recklessness and insensitivity to the declining state of the country’s economy.
Namdas in his reaction on behalf of the lower parliament stated that the law makers have tremendous respect for the former President but that th etter by the former President may not have been meant for the 8th Assembly but rather the 4th or 5th Assemblies.
“We have tremendous respect for the former President. We don’t want to be distracted by letters.
“Probably the letter is not meant for the 8th Assembly because we have cued in with President Muhammadu Buhari, I think the letter is meant for the 4th or 5th Assembly. It was misdirected,” he said.
However, the House has also suspended plenary session for two weeks to resume next month.
The move according to Namdas, was to enable the lawmakers have enough time to look at the 2016 budget proposal sent to it by President Muhammadu Buhari.
He said the House upon resumption from the working recess is expected to be in tandem with its Senate counterpart regarding legislative inputs on the budget.
“By February 25th, we are hoping to join our Senate counterpart to pass the budget. It is our duty to appropriate what the executive has proposed. Wherever we see that funds have been unnecessarily allocated, we reserve the powers to move such funds to the areas where they are most needed.
“However,
I can’t sit here and begin to tell you where and where we will move
funds from, to where and how much, because that’s what we have taken the
recess to do. Until we get there, we can’t say much at this point”, he
said.
Namdas also reacted to an alleged gaffe by one of his colleagues, Mohammed Abubakar (APC, Kaduna) who alleged that members were given N50million and 150 motorcycles each for distribution to their constituents.
He said: “The truth is that we don’t know where the member got his information from or whether he is a beneficiary or not. This is one of the campaigns of calumny that we suffer. We don’t know if he said that just to tarnish the image of the House, but we will not let it lie low which is why an investigation has been called into it”, Namdas said.
Chairman House of Representatives Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Abdulrazak Namdas reacting to the allegation described it as an attempt by the former President to distract the 8th Assembly adding that the House has chosen to ignore him.
Namdas added that the former president must have been speaking about the high rate of corruption in the parliament under his own government of the 4th and 5th Session of the parliament.
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo in a letter dated January 13, accused the National Assembly leadership of financial recklessness and insensitivity to the declining state of the country’s economy.
Namdas in his reaction on behalf of the lower parliament stated that the law makers have tremendous respect for the former President but that th etter by the former President may not have been meant for the 8th Assembly but rather the 4th or 5th Assemblies.
“We have tremendous respect for the former President. We don’t want to be distracted by letters.
“Probably the letter is not meant for the 8th Assembly because we have cued in with President Muhammadu Buhari, I think the letter is meant for the 4th or 5th Assembly. It was misdirected,” he said.
However, the House has also suspended plenary session for two weeks to resume next month.
The move according to Namdas, was to enable the lawmakers have enough time to look at the 2016 budget proposal sent to it by President Muhammadu Buhari.
He said the House upon resumption from the working recess is expected to be in tandem with its Senate counterpart regarding legislative inputs on the budget.
“By February 25th, we are hoping to join our Senate counterpart to pass the budget. It is our duty to appropriate what the executive has proposed. Wherever we see that funds have been unnecessarily allocated, we reserve the powers to move such funds to the areas where they are most needed.
Namdas also reacted to an alleged gaffe by one of his colleagues, Mohammed Abubakar (APC, Kaduna) who alleged that members were given N50million and 150 motorcycles each for distribution to their constituents.
He said: “The truth is that we don’t know where the member got his information from or whether he is a beneficiary or not. This is one of the campaigns of calumny that we suffer. We don’t know if he said that just to tarnish the image of the House, but we will not let it lie low which is why an investigation has been called into it”, Namdas said.
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