When I read
about the subsidy probe and the $600,000 Hon. Farouk Lawan allegedly received
from Otedola of Zenon oil, I was not interested and looting money has become a
national anthem amongst our presumed leaders. But what prompted me to act were
comments of some comments made by some Nigerians. I am really perplexed by the
way some Nigerians think.
Someone said
“the truth of the matter is that our leaders are corrupt to the marrow. To hell
with these self – imposed leaders of ours, May God bless our one and only GEJ
for having the will to unveil the dreaded cartel that has held this
country hostage since time immemorial”.
“May God bless our one and only GEJ
for having the will”?
What will is that if I may ask? Is it all about PDP or Nigeria? Let us not
forget that GEJ, Otedola, SSS, Farouk Lawan are all in the PDP.
A subsidy
probe committee was set up which was headed by Hon. Farouk Lawan to monitor the
fuel subsidy removal by the Federal Government and since it has submitted its
report, nothing concrete had been done about it. The subsidy probe committee
had earlier sent a report to the executive but it wasn’t acted upon but now
that there are allegations against the chairman of the committee that he
received bribe, the report has lost its credibility.
Hon. Farouk
Lawan had denied the allegation earlier that he received 600k from Otedola but
according to THIS DAY newspaper, he revealed that he actually collected
$500,000 and not $600,000 from Otedola, whom he accused of offering him the
money to influence the probe panel’s report. He also said it was Otedola that
initiated the bribe offer in order for him to remove Zenon’s name from the list
of companies that collected foreign exchange from CBN without importing
petroleum products.
Lawan said
he had informed the chairman of the house committee on Narcotic drugs and
financial crimes, Hon. Adams jagaba, through a letter dated April 24, 2012 of
Otedola’s alleged persistence to bribe him to influence the outcome of the
investigation.
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| Femi Otedola, businessman and President, Zenon Oil & Gas •Farouk Lawan |
Lawan also
said he attached “the sum of 500,000 dollars only offered to me with another
promise of 2million, five hundred thousand dollars” to the letter.
Lawan, in a
statement in which he gave a detailed account of what transpired between him
and Otedola, said “I had considered bringing this issue as a matter of privilege
on the floor of the house latter today (April 24), but I am concerned that the
controversy it will generate will dwarf the contents of the report, which needs
public attention so that necessary reforms in the sector could be affected”.
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| Farouk Lawan |
“I gave the
desperation of Mr. Otedola, handling this matter, in a firm but diplomatic
manner is necessary as he has also made some veiled threats which put me and
members of the committee in a delicate situation”.
“Veiled threats which put me and
members of the committee in a delicate situation”? What threats? What delicate situation?
Let us call a spade a spade, both of them are guilty (the person that gave and
the one that received the bribe).
Nigeria is
not PDP and PDP is not Nigeria. Nigerians should open their eyes to clearly see
what is happening here. Let us alight from the “one chance” bus that the PDP
has put us into.
I agree that
Farouk Lawan should be prosecuted but others should too. We have so many cases
that have been swept under the carpet. These things happens every day in
government circles and nobody blows it open because they all benefit one way or
the other.
As I said
earlier, let us not forget the fact that GEJ, Otedola, Farouk Lawan, EFCC, SSS
are all PDP. It is a planned work and he (Farouk Lawan) foolishly fell for it.
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| Femi Otedola |
All these
people in government do the same thing but you only get exposed if you are not
in the good books of those that matters. A country where majority live below
poverty level and Otedola has $3million to bribe some body. May the end be the
best for the just and honest ones.
There was a
confirmed case of #155 billion fraud against the government office including
GEJ. What did they do about it?
Now that it
is obvious that everything in Nigeria is corrupt, what would ordinary Nigerians
do? Who are we going to cry to for help? EFCC, SSS, Senate, who?
God knows!