Senators Received Bribe In Dollars Before Subsidy Removal – Premium Times
[This is another pointer to why Nigerians must take their collective destiny in their own hands rather than leave the so-called corrupt unions as the institution to represent their interest. Could this be true, or rather, have these people given us grounds to disbelieve this allegation? TOLA]
The funds, tucked in envelopes and paid out before the Senate commenced its recess on December 20 last year, saw many Senators collecting on behalf of their colleagues.
Two weeks before the Federal Government announced the removal of fuel subsidy on Petroleum products, leading to a hike in petrol price, Nigerian Senators got an unexpected largesse, Premium Times can authoritatively report.
Between December 15 and Christmas, the President of the Senate, David Mark, distributed mint-fresh cash in U.S. dollars to each of the country’s 109 Senators, multiple knowledgeable sources have told Premium Times.
There is no evidence that any Senator rejected the largesse. Even activist members who got elected on the platform of opposition parties, promising to expose corruption in parliament, quietly got and pocketed their shares.
“Each Senator got sixty thousand dollars and principal officers even got more, I think between seventy and eighty thousand dollars,” one of our sources, a top Senate official, said.
The source maintained that the dollar notes were so crisp that “one of us (a Senator) joked that the money could only have come directly from the (American) Federal Reserve Bank.”
PURPOSE UNKNOWN
Though the Senators were not told the source or purpose of the largesse, Premium Times learnt that the money originated from elements and departments in the federal government pushing the proposed deregulation programme of the administration.
“I think the money came from the executive,” said a top legislative aide, whose boss also benefited. “Even though it was not stated then, I believe it was meant to calm the Senate in preparation for the fuel subsidy removal.”
The funds, tucked in envelopes and paid out after the Senate commenced its recess on December 20 last year saw many Senators collecting on behalf of their colleagues.
Aides were not allowed to receive the payment on behalf of their bosses.
NOT FROM US
It is not clear where the Senate President, whose office distributed the largesse, got such amount ($6.7miilion) in foreign currency from.
The Central Bank of Nigeria stated that it did not sell such foreign currency to the Senate.
“That is nonsense. Senate to do what with dollars?” Mohammed Abdullah, spokesman for the apex bank, said, when contacted by Premium Times.
Mr. Abdullahi explained that the only time the CBN could sell dollars to public officials is when they travel on official foreign trips and deserve estacodes, adding, “and that is after presenting all necessary approval by his ministry or institution.”
SENATORS DENY
As expected, Senators interviewed on the illicit payments denied ever receiving such money from the Senate President.
Paul Mumeh, spokesman for Senator Mark said such allegations could only be blackmail.
“Even if you break CBN vault, you won’t get that kind of money. Such things (allegations) can only be blackmail,” he said.
“I am not aware of any such thing,” said Ita Enang, a Peoples Democratic Party Senator from Akwa-Ibom State. “I am not aware. I will go and ask him (Mr. Mark).”
Nigerian lawmakers are reputed for arbitrarily increasing their emoluments, and are among the highest paid in the world. They are notorious for lining their pockets with public funds and some of them are standing trial for corruption. Their salaries and allowances are a hugely guarded secret, even as they receive an average of N50million quarterly in “office running cost”. They are never made to account for the payments.
March 9, 2012 at 10:54 am
Thanks, Tola, we should remember that this is Nigeria. Please can you point out one of the elected or appointed leaders that is not corrupt? Nigeria leaders are crafty to get off the hook when they are caught. In Nigeria, any form of indictments on any leader will be termed as allegation. Please bear in mind that the conduct of corruption is not only at the national assembly; the judiciary and executive are also smiling. The truth is that corruption cannot be eradicated in Nigeria because of selfishness of the leaders which has lead us to poverty.
Folabi
March 9, 2012 at 5:45 pm
Thanks, Folabi.
I’m sure most Nigerians would agree with two points raised here: that Nigerian leaders are very selfish and that any fight against the hydra-headed monster – corruption – has long been doomed. Nigerians must forget the old template of looking to the trade unions to lead them out of bondage. More than the hands of union leaders are tied and corruption has rendered these leaders useless to the common goal of changing our country’s fortune.
Regards, TOLA.
March 8, 2012 at 10:42 am
Honestly, something is wrong with us in Nigeria most especially when it comes to exposing corruption. It’s either the investigation is not thoroughly carried out before going to press to feed the members of the public or, as expected, total denial by those involved. There is a whole lot of difference between Nigeria and other parts of the world, especially the developed countries. It’s not that we do not have rogues among their politicians or among the public, but once the lid is blown open, they will spill out the truth, plead guilty and the loot refunded before the guilty is banished to jail.
However, the case is not so in Nigeria. The accused will device cunny ways and lies to get out of the hook. He becomes a hero by buying out those that can give evidence against him and with the connivance of a corrupt judiciary the case will be thrown out. Lies all the way. Will things ever going change in Nigeria?
Just before elections last year, lid was blown off the fat payments of the legislatures which was corroborated by the Finance Ministry and the CBN. We do not hear anything about it anymore and many of them are back in the Senate and House to continue with the national looting.
The painful thing is that those who were outside (the so called activists among the politicians) will shout and point accusing fingers at them, only to join them whenever they have the chance of being voted in. When will the beautiful ones be born in Nigeria to instill sanity into our blood stream. We should give kudoes to one of the Fed Legislators in the past who exposed the free credit cards given to them by the MTN every month. All others, including ACN members kept quiet including the Presidency under President Obasanjo that time. I think the man who blew the whistle lost at the next election back for exposing them and from what happened with elections in Nigeria, especially the ruling PDP, the man did not stand any chance of returning to the Senate.
We members of the public are also not helping things. We mortgage our future by collecting money from these rogues in order to vote or select them during elections and these people only continue to enrich themselves at our own peril. If this accusation is true, think of what we can do with this money (60000x160x109 in naira equals 1,046,400,000:00), over N1b. Our hospitals are crying out to be equipped, our roads are crying for repairw, members of the public are hungry, uncountable Nigerian youth are unemployed and so on and so on.
These legislators are so shameless and heartless that they think of themselves alone, forgetting that we all came empty-handed to this world and we shall go back with nothing. All is vanity.
While talking of the Senators, was the bribe not extended to members of the House of Reps? This casts a doubt in my mind as to the truthfulness of this booty because heaven would have been let loose if the members of the Reps have not been equally paid off. If theirs have not been verified, then, we will be talking in the region of 3 or 4 billion naira used by the Fed Govt to bribe our law makers to send us to financial bondage in the name of removing a non-existing subsidy on petrol.
May there be a revolution peaceful or otherwise to liberate the Nigerian masses from the grip of these monsters.
March 8, 2012 at 7:31 pm
Thanks, Fatai. Your comments raise many important points: were Reps paid or not paid? Where else could the money have come from if not the central government? How do we get out of the quagmire with every arm of government, including the judiciary, is neck deep in corruption? Why are Nigerians active participants in ruining the country and their own future by taking money from thieving politicians?
These questions are now way beyond my understanding but one thing I feel sure about is that as long as Nigerians look to workers’ unions to lead the salvage of the country whatever “revolution” – peaceful or otherwise – people dream about will never come. Those who lead the country’s unions have long perfected how to run with the hare and hunt with the hounds as the saying goes and the country’s rulers, too, have long understood this. Foreign currencies, homes abroad, etcetera are only two of “incentives” that were rumored as carrots for these so-called union leaders to sell the rest of us.
Individual Nigerians have to ask themselves if the country they want is one in which they would forever be seeking equilibrium but it would never come while a fattened few – AND THEIR DESCENDANTS – would forever lord it over them and their own poor descendants in a modern-day “vast slave plantation” as I first dubbed modern Nigeria in a write-up bebore late Yar Adua’s imposition masqueraded as “elections”.
Regards,
TOLA.